While some think that the inauguration of the 44th president celebrates a significant milestone in the civil rights era, others think dramatic infractions against human rights continue within and along our borders. Illegal immigration continues to be a national issue of debate and indecision. I’ll photograph the way it affects life along the southern border and the hardships immigrants face crossing into the United States.

“If I was to put myself in their shoes, I might do the same thing trying to get a better life for my family. They are human beings just like everyone else.” said Border Patrol Agent Jim Clanahan, when I asked him about his feelings towards illegal immigrants. We sat in his truck a few miles from the Mexican border while I worked on an ongoing photo essay on the conditions of illegal immigrants.

Among the estimated 12 million people living illegally within the United States approximately 78 percent come from Latin America, especially Mexico. The people that come here do so at great personal sacrifice, both financially and physically, in their search for better wages and a piece of the “American Dream”. Crossing the U.S. border is no simple task. Would-be immigrants traverse miles of harsh desert, wade rivers, jump fences, face extortion and robbery from smugglers, drink from stagnant “cow ponds”, and risk arrest and death.

The debate over use of public funds for undocumented workers is a national one, but along the border it is amplified and reflected in the faces of the people who live there.

Over the past 18 months I have travelled to the Mexican border, Chicago, and Lexington, Kentucky and learned about illegal immigration from those involved in the debate. I have learned that despite the rhetoric of politicians, and coverage in the mainstream media, this is a human story, a story that cannot be reduced to statistics and graphs.

On a horse farm in Kentucky I spent time with Augustine, an illegal immigrant from a village outside Oaxaca, Mexico where worked as a musician. He came here so that he could afford the expense of his mother’s cancer treatment. He says it’s too risky for him to try and go home and he hasn’t seen her in eight years. “I’d prefer to be in my country with my mother” he said, “I hope that some day I can see my mom alive.” Even with change coming to America in the form of both a new presidential administration and a recessed economic climate, this issue continues to be relevant to national discourse and political debate. Our new president, himself the son of an immigrant, highlights the strength of our diversity and with the Economic downturn, governments across America are tightening their budgetary belts, and all public spending is being scrutinized.

My previous work has demonstrated my passion and inspired me to continue on this topic. I have spent countless hours researching, interviewing and photographing people at the heart of the debate. I will continue work on this project in three segments where I have spent time developing contacts. In addition to revisiting the U.S. Border Patrol, I will look at the struggles undocumented workers face while trying to enter the United States. I will travel to Nogales, along Mexico’s border with Arizona, to document the passage of a group of immigrants as they cross into the United States across miles of unforgiving terrain. I will also photograph the Tohono O’odham Nation, a group of indigenous Americans that are traditionally sympathetic to the thousands of immigrants that cross their land. Their ancestral home along the Arizona-Mexico border plays host to smugglers and federal officials who some critics say go too far in their enforcement of the law. A fence proposed by the U.S. government would split the nation’s traditional territory, and has left many locals with divided opinions.

This topic has been lightly reported and routinely receives “sameness” in coverage. My work will reveal a deeper understanding into lives affected by this issue.

This story is at its heart an American story, an immigrant story, and a story of conflicting viewpoints. A grant from The Alexia Foundation will make this possible. There are subtle shades of grey in an issue that is all to often depicted as black and white. This project will further the cultural understanding of a rapidly changing demographic, understanding that will help ease ignorance. Images that increase our understanding and respect for one another will put us on a path towards cooperation and civil justice.