Book review: The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail
De Leon’s debut, The Land of Open Graves (2015), chronicles the violence faced by people irregularly crossing the US-Mexico border in the vicious and sometimes lethal Sonora Desert. This violence, De Leon argues, is not inevitable or natural; it is set in motion by Prevention Through Deterrence (PTD). PTD is a US federal border enforcement policy that targets people illegally crossing from Mexico into the US. It is designed to funnel migrants into remote desert areas, intentionally exposing them to treacherous conditions while blaming their deaths on ‘natural’ environmental causes.
Through PTD, the US government plays an active role in migrant deaths around its southern border. The intentionality of the policy is highlighted by early federal government reports that cite the “mortal danger” and “hostile terrain” of the desert and measure the success of the policy in “deaths of aliens attempting entry”. The US government’s language on the policy has since become more sanitised. However, the violence this policy perpetrates against people migrating has only increased as crossing points have been pushed into more rural, perilous areas.
The harsh conditions of the desert are not only violent towards the living. The victims of PTD continue to face violence after their deaths. De Leon describes this as necroviolence; violence performed and produced through the treatment of dead bodies. Through descriptions of forensic science experiments, De Leon explains that, in the Sonora Desert, necroviolence is erasure; scavengers, intense sun, and other actors in the desert ecosystem eventually erase the remains of people who have passed away in the desert. Erasure also enacts further violence against the families of the deceased, creating states of ambiguous loss in which families are unable to mourn and engage with the process of grief.
While highlighting the violence and erasure enacted by the desert and PTD is important, the experiments, descriptions, and imagery that De Leon employs reproduce the very violence that he so vehemently critiques. His forensic experiments involved dressing dead pigs in clothing that he describes as typical of migrants crossing the desert, including t-shirts, bras, and worn-out tennis shoes, and recording the proceeding scavenging by vultures, dogs, and ants. Descriptions and photographs included in the text are gruesome and violent. It should not be necessary to recreate violence to demonstrate its harms.
Alongside engagement with theory and political context, The Land of Open Graves foregrounds experiences of migration at the US-Mexico border through ethnographic accounts of border crossing. Over several chapters, De Leon describes the lives of Memo and Lucho, two Mexican men who had not known each other before but became good amigos del camino. De Leon spent months with Memo and Lucho and chronicles their time living in Nogales, Mexico while preparing to cross the border, their failed crossing attempts, their final, successful attempt, and the continued impacts of trauma on their lives in the US. In portraying their final crossing, De Leon uses extensive excerpts from interviews, complemented by photos taken by Memo and Lucho on disposable cameras during their journey. Through this rare data, De Leon foregrounds their perspectives and experiences. The account of their crossing conveys the violence of the PTD policy and the environmental conditions that it intentionally exposes people to.
De Leon is reflective on his positionality throughout this book, providing nuanced insight into his role as an ethnographer and the access and limitations that his positionality creates. Through ethnography, he brings the people crossing the Sonora Desert to the fore, unmasking the human faces of people too often dehumanised by US immigration policies. Their journeys and struggles will stay with you, fostering a new perspective on the US border and those who cross it.
VICE Documentary Review: "Chile's migration boom has led to a major housing crisis"
By Mita
Check out the 11 minute documentary here. This short VICE documentary sheds light on the “Chilean Dream”, the relationship between a growing migrant population facing extreme housing insecurity, and the political debates that form and reinforce these insecurities. The documentary is a great resource for students and individuals interested in learning more about the relationship between politics, housing, and xenophobia. It showcases relevant stories from residents in migrant communities, activists, and politicians to illustrate how these three dimensions serve as an echochamber that shapes migrant experiences.
As migration in Chile rises, public housing options remain limited and, with nowhere to go, migrants settle in informal housing settlements. These settlements lack standard and regulated infrastructure, meaning residents rely on solar power generators and water reserves to maintain their wellbeing. Facing severe financial constraints, residents of these communities are unable to afford rental costs if they want to continue accessing essential resources such as food and water. Water is often salty and difficult to drink, children lack access to school supplies, and families can be evicted at a moment’s notice.
Contrary to the stereotypes, these households include documented families with the required paperwork to live and work in Chile. Conservative discourse around these communities paint migration as something that must be limited, and have led to mass evictions of these communities. Liberal policymakers describe the importance of migration for Chile’s economy, highlighting the benefits of migration and the importance of supporting migrants’ livelihoods.
In sum, this short documentary provides a succinct overview of migration in and to Chile, with a special emphasis on housing security, financial corners, and political debates that migrants face in their experiences moving. It is a good watch for those eager to learn more about migrants’ access to resources, for students learning about urban development, and for on-the-go learners short on time.
VICE Documentary Review: Crisis Inside the Border's Largest Refugee Tent City
By Mita
Check out the 25 minute documentary here.
The “Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP)” also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy enacted under the Trump presidency added layers of restrictions for asylum seekers attempting to enter the US. MPP prevents individuals from across Central and South America from crossing into the US as their asylum cases process, leaving them stranded at the US-Mexico border. This Latin-XVICE documentary provides an inside look into the lives and realities of the families living in a large refugee camp situated at the US-Mexico border.
Handpicked stories following a pair of clinicians, an advocate and doctor duo, and a single mother whose son successfully crossed into the US illustrate the clear needs and humanitarian emergency taking place at the border, and the tangible impact that dehumanising rhetoric about migrants and refugees south of the US border has had on families fleeing dangerous socio political circumstances. Heavily story-focused, viewers will witness the unforgiving and dehumanising handling of migrants at the US-Mexico border as journalist Paola Ramos discusses the health, safety, and legal risks that migrants face as they wait for their case to process.
Taking place soon before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, doctors explain how the settlement is not prepared for an epidemic, and that many of the families care for vulnerable children with pre-existing physical and mental health needs. Such conditions would have granted vulnerable children exceptions to the policy as they require special medical attention, however cases that plead exceptional circumstances are regularly denied by border patrol. Health hazards such as smoke from cooking, high dust levels, stagnant water, and insecure sleeping conditions add to the spread of respiratory diseases, parasites, and infections amongst children, and violence around the settlement is frequent.
For health professionals committed to learning about xenophobia’s impact on health, this documentary will demonstrate how xenophobic policymaking and stereotyping has a real impact on the health and wellbeing of migrants at the US-Mexico border. Seemingly designed to motivate action, this documentary will showcase the day-to-day needs of families undergoing these extreme conditions and inform your action towards health justice and human rights for migrants and refugees.