Tom Kiefer
El Sueño Americano / The American Dream
During my fourth year working as a janitor at a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol processing facility near Ajo, Arizona, I asked to retrieve from the trash the cans of food carried by migrants or those seeking asylum and bring them to our local food bank. When I started collecting the food, I saw what was also being confiscated thrown out by government officials: migrants’ personal items such as rosaries, bibles, wallets, toothbrushes, shoes, clothing, belts, and family photos.
These confiscations struck me as wrong. The cruelty of stripping away such personal items from vulnerable people is dehumanizing for both those whose belongings are taken from them and those who enforce this unjust policy.
It took several years to find a way to photograph these belongings that showed my respect for those who carried them across the desert but also my deep sadness and outrage at this cruel and inhumane practice. I hope this work encourages others to connect with their own sense of human decency, and to advocate for the better treatment of those who want to work and live in the U.S. but also for our fellow citizens who are essential and vital to a functioning democracy but are marginalized and treated differently based solely on their race and/or social class and standing.