by photographer Victor Sira
2002 FiftyCrows PhotoFund Winner

Uprooted, a project about the lives and living conditions of undocumented immigrants from Central America and Mexico, shows the links between the familiar world these immigrants leave behind and the new world they discover in the United States. The project is divided into three parts: Homeland, which documents the immigrants’ lives at home, conveying a sense of their culture and of their reasons for leaving; Departure, which follows the immigrants on their way to the United States, illustrating the increasingly difficult and dangerous conditions under which they make this journey; and Strangers, which focuses on the immigrants’ lives in the United States, suggesting the effect that this historical influx of people is having.

One of the consequences of globalization and the neo-liberal policies of the 1990’s, is an increase in the number of people who have been uprooted throughout the Americas. Back in their homeland, families are divided; traditional relationships are altered; children are raised without their parents; and communities are profoundly dependent on the economic support of distant family members. In the United States, in addition to the emotional and cultural isolation that is a defining part of every immigrant’s life, changes in US immigration law, notably the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, have criminalized undocumented immigrants. Such laws have made it virtually impossible to transition to documented status. The result is a permanent sector of immigrant workers with essentially no legal rights, compelled to work under slavery-like conditions. Torn between two worlds, these immigrants are the subject of Uprooted.