Janelle: Admitted at: Calexico, Calif.
It is a representation of toxicity in immigration policy both formal and informal in creating the political climate around immigration.
It is a representation of toxicity in immigration policy both formal and informal in creating the political climate around immigration.
I have an emotional reaction to the convoluted way in which policy manifests itself as represented by the image.
My gaze is fixed first on the face and then upon the word "alien".
This is an extremely evocative and powerful ethnographic image. The strength of emotion behind Juan's eye's forces the reader to consider what was he feeling at this moment in time? Did he know what was to come next (stripping, sprayed with pesticides, dehumanization)? Was he angry, humiliated, frustrated - or a complex mix of many emotions?As an aside - given that you (Salvador) and Juan share last names, are you related? If so, what types of information might you have access to that an outside researcher would not?
This image encourages a conversation about the state's role in creating and managing toxicity. Such an ID card would support James Scott's idea of state legibility of its subjects.
I would be interested in seeing a collage that incorporates both sides of the ID card - or perhaps even included in the caption an overview of the type of information included on the biographical data (age, height, eye color, weight?). What aspects of one's being was the state interested in documenting.