Reporting on the Border: High Country News Looks at Immigration

http://www.hcn.org/issues/40.21/bearing-witness-on-the-border?utm_source=wcn1&ut...

High Country News, an environmental news source "for people who care about the West," occasionally tackles larger Western issues. They've just reviewed "Exodos/Exodo"-- a photo/essay book.

From the review, "There are many ways to write about illegal immigration. One way is to shuffle through Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports, cherry-pick the latest data and file an article from a safe distance. Another way is to step into the fray, boots-on-the-ground, and act as an eyewitness. Author Charles Bowden and photographer Julian Cardona have chosen to be two such witnesses, and their stunning book Exodus/Exodo is a pointed reminder of the heartbreak and struggle at our back door.

The authors don't offer up pat solutions to the immigration crisis, nor do they find fault with Border Patrol officers, Minutemen volunteers, or immigrants who "come north rather than die in place." The only culprits left to blame are old and familiar ones: ineffectual U.S. foreign policy, the pressures of globalization, and the failure of the Mexican government.

Exodus/Exodo is an astonishing work of witness, documenting how the "biggest migratory phenomenon in the world" has come head-to-head with the 21st century. "They are no longer migratory workers," Bowden writes of the unstemmed tide. "They are refugees from a collapsing economy and a barbarous government and their journey is biblical and we should call it Exodus."

There is a slide show of images from the book and related links to four other stories about the Border from this Web page.

Tags: High Country News, migration, the Border
Topics: Immigrants, Journalism, Storytelling