Paso del Norte

Since 2020, I have been watching a live streaming camera located on the Paso del Norte International Bridge, on the border between Juárez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas. For almost 20 months, the border closed for “non-essential” travel and the number of deportations to Mexico increased, using a new immigration apparatus: health security, executing the Migrant Protection Protocols and Title 42, which allows Customs and Border Protection (CBP ) to deport undocumented migrants and using as an excuse the prevention of the spread of COVID-19 in their detention facilities.

While I observe the day to day in this border, I also witness thousands of adults and children walking in the opposite direction, crossing the border to Juárez, escorted by CBP agents, many aimlessly and without personal possessions, exposed to crime in the area. On rainy days, they are seen crossing with Space Blankets to protect themselves from the weather.

With over 1,000 images, the archive shows a series of interconnected nuclei that, through images from this camera, along with other screenshots, seeks to question the official narratives that are presented to us and the way in which we interact with migration as global beings, considering a deep and critical reading of the public policies of both countries.

In the last months of the project, I have been documenting my own border crossings, taking with me different objects and clothing that fuel the discussion of what happens in this space. From fast food uniforms, piñatas made of space blankets, t-shirts with American flags and others that change the word NASA to "RAZA" (Race).

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Screen_Recording_20210729-101600_Chrome_exported_219, 2022
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Screen_Recording_20210729-101600_Chrome_exported_219, 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Screen_Recording_20210802-173348_Chrome_exported_43677, 2022
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Screen_Recording_20210802-173348_Chrome_exported_43677, 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Screen_Recording_20210817-170602_Chrome_exported_54821, 2022
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Screen_Recording_20210817-170602_Chrome_exported_54821, 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Deported people using Space Blankets. (Screen_Recording_20210815 -075036_Chrome_exported_58592), 2022
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Deported people using Space Blankets. (Screen_Recording_20210815 -075036_Chrome_exported_58592), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - REPORT OF INVESTIGATION - IF YOU FEEL THREATENED, YOU CAN BEAT THAT TONK LIKE A PINATA UNTIL CANDY COMES OUT, 2022
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REPORT OF INVESTIGATION - IF YOU FEEL THREATENED, YOU CAN BEAT THAT TONK LIKE A PINATA UNTIL CANDY COMES OUT, 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Image from the Paso del Norte photography project
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Self portrait crossing with a NASA Spaceship made of space blanket. (Screen_Recording_20220709-152707_Chrome_exported_4119), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - NASA FACEBOOK PAGE GREEN SCREEN (WHITE MAN AFRAID OF ALIENS), 2022
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NASA FACEBOOK PAGE GREEN SCREEN (WHITE MAN AFRAID OF ALIENS), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Image from the Paso del Norte photography project
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Self portrait crossing with an Alien piñata made of space blanket. (Screen_Recording_20220710-114620_Chrome_exported_123482), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - NASA FACEBOOK PAGE GREEN SCREEN (HISPANIC MAN SAYING HI TO MOM), 2022
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NASA FACEBOOK PAGE GREEN SCREEN (HISPANIC MAN SAYING HI TO MOM), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Image from the Paso del Norte photography project
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The crisis in the fast food sector causes many legal immigrants living in Mexico to cross into the United States every day to work, while deporting people at the same time every day. Screenshot_20210812-223216_Chrome, 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Whataburger worker (Screenshot_20210728-092551_Chrome), 2022
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Whataburger worker (Screenshot_20210728-092551_Chrome), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Whataburger worker (Screenshot_20210728-094516_Chrome), 2022
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Whataburger worker (Screenshot_20210728-094516_Chrome), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Whataburger worker (Screenshot_20210803-233438_Chrome), 2022
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Whataburger worker (Screenshot_20210803-233438_Chrome), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Whataburger worker (Screenshot_20210815-074144_Chrome), 2022
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Whataburger worker (Screenshot_20210815-074144_Chrome), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - Image from the Paso del Norte photography project
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Self portrait with Whataburger merchandise at Christmas. (Screen_Recording_20221225_191625_Samsung Internet_exported_62951_2), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - RAZA (RACE) INSTAGRAM, 2022 Merchandise ad on Instagram, recent search algorithm result.
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RAZA (RACE) INSTAGRAM, 2022 Merchandise ad on Instagram, recent search algorithm result.

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - NASA T-Shirt (Screen_Recording_20210817-081558_Chrome_exported_105), 2022
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NASA T-Shirt (Screen_Recording_20210817-081558_Chrome_exported_105), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - NASA T-Shirt Sin título-1-Recuperado, 2022
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NASA T-Shirt Sin título-1-Recuperado, 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - NASA T-Shirt (Screenshot_20210731-104509_Chrome), 2022
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NASA T-Shirt (Screenshot_20210731-104509_Chrome), 2022

© Alejandro "Luperca" Morales - RAZA T-Shirt (Self portrait) Purchased after seeing the ad on Instagram. "RAZE" (RACE)
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RAZA T-Shirt (Self portrait) Purchased after seeing the ad on Instagram. "RAZE" (RACE)

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