People With No Names - The Undocumented #30

This 24"x36" oil on canvas image is of a man who I met in Nogales. His story is a good news/bad news. The bad news is: this husband, father, and agricultural worker was deported and cannot rejoin his U.S. citizen wife and child. His family has had to move in with relatives in California, as they wait and hope for his return. The good news is: He is alive. He is not one of the 200+ people who die in the desert each year. He is deported, but alive. There is still 'possibility' in his future. Re-unifiction of families and economic well-being are the two main reasons for immigration.

People With No Names - The Undocumented #28

This asphaltum under-painting is a study in light, medium and dark values. I am trying to get to the heart of the image, just as I am trying to understand the immigration debate. I am trying to understand why a wealthy, diverse nation of immigrants no longer wants to welcome tired, oppressed, huddled masses. We are a 'stone soup' nation. Many of us came to this country with so few material resources, such that we can name them in only one short sentence. The man in this image, with his back to us, showed me his deportation document. He has gotten the maximum time, ( 20 years), before he can re-apply to join his wife and child (both U.S. citizens). He had been working for many years picking melons and other crops in the U.S. He told me that a policeman had asked to see his papers and the deportation had ensued. I have since learned that the INS is backlogged by at least 18 yrs. in processing applications for family unification...so this man is potentially elgible to legally re-join his family in 38 years.