Four thousand illegal border crossings happen every day from Mexico to the United States, many of them across the Rio Grande. In an attempt to control the problem, the US Border Patrol uses surveillance cameras with live feeds to the internet and its “virtual deputies” to try and apprehend crossers. This project indexes the losses suffered by the Mexican people in this process, recognizes and instrumentalizes the magnitude of the problem, and ultimately provides greater control and protection for those attempting to cross into the United States.
For each body that moves through the Rio Grande, a water irrigation system along the Mexican banks of the river collects the small amount of water displaced in the process and redistributes it to the installation sites. The sites, the exact territories at which the US cameras are trained, grow lush..
As the abundant vegetation “clogs” the views of the camera, potential crossers are given refuge and the territorial presence of the surveillance system becomes visible across the landscape.
