All images ©Seba Kurtis
Thanks very much to Seba Kurtis for sending me a selection of images from his series 700 Miles, a striking and passionate look at illegal immigration in the States. In his accompanying essay to the work, he manages to shed a little on the extent of this phenomenon. He writes,
"There are currently 45 million Hispanics working or living in the USA, (particularly from Mexico) of which 12 million are suspected illegal. This diluting of their race breeds insecurity in some American citizens, fearful of the face of America being changed. An anti-immigrant crusade has developed to prevent illegal aliens from crossing the southern border. In 2006 President Bush authorised the fencing of 700miles of the US-Mexico border of the states of California, Texas and Arizona. This $2.2 billion project is yet to materialise, but has been compared to the Berlin Wall.
Patriotic Americans have given up their free time to become vigilantes “Minutemen”, who secure the border themselves and report any infiltration to border police from 24hour video cameras in their own home.
I was living as an illegal immigrant in Europe for more than 5 years, so this body of work is based on an understanding of being a man with no rights."
