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Award of Excellence
Janet Jarman Corbis
"Crossings: The Dream of the Rich North"





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On a scorching summer afternoon in August, 1996, Marisol, 8, daydreams at dusk while she waits for another load of garbage to arrive at the municipal waste dump in Matamoros, Mexico. She, her mother and several siblings searched for recyclable items to resell in the dump, before they moved to the United States.

Every year tens of thousands of Mexicans illegally cross the border into the U.S. searching for a better life in 'El Norte,' where they often disappear into a black hole of anonymity, exploitation and uncertainty, their lives and contributions largely misunderstood. Marisol, her mother and several siblings were living and working in the municipal dump in Matamoros, Mexico in 1996, when they decided to try their luck and cross the border. This essay documents the family's struggle over an eight-year period (from August 1996 to the present), covering the obstacles and opportunities they encountered in Mexico and the U.S. , moving from Matamoros to Florida and onwards to Texas. This required coping with a new language, confusing customs, discrimination and exploitation. Over time the American Dream seemed to be slipping away. Their story repeats itself throughout the United States each day, and across the world, as similar economic realities move immigrants across borders.

 

 

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