What about an article on the things stolen/"confiscated" by the predatory TSA?
Brilliant and sensitive project. I hope these can be published. I’d buy a copy to send to the White House, but I fear the message would be lost. At least people who care will remember.
8
TSA confiscates similar items at airports daily. Further, there's no exemption from federal agents examining passports and IDs, performing body scans, and examining personal history based on nationality or economics. But beyond economic, cultural, and rule of law entropy illegals immigrants "carry" across the border, there's the more insidious destruction of what it means to be a citizen.
6
Difference is, I can always buy a new tube of toothpaste, my wife can buy a new hairbrush and we get to keep our wallets with our IDs, credit cards, etc. Those attempting illegal entry into the US don't have those options and, besides separating separating the kids form their parents, that's where the inhumanity lies.
10
In the Sonoran desert, we regularly find backpacks that have been slit, or had the straps cut, rendering them useless. This, in the desert, where being able to carry things like water can mean the difference between life or death. I'm constantly astounded by such deliberate cruelty.
16
Many commenters are blaming Trump although all of the photos were taken during the Bush and Obama administrations!!
Also, the photographer alluded to the Holocaust re the glove pic, as did many commenters. But this comparison is more than insulting. and off the mark. The Holocaust was a mass murder of a people who had lived in respective countries of Europe for centuries. What we are witnessing on the border is illegal crossings of foreign nationals into the US, and the attempt at some semblance of processing and control by US authorities, going back to previous administrations.
3
The sad irony of the town's name - Why, Arizona - speaks volumes.
8
Mr. Kiefer seems like a good man.
Bibles and wallets? A little girl's hair ribbon and a little boy's toy cars? If the migrants are about to be sent off who knows where and shuffled around, why take the necessary things, the holy things and the children's meager possessions with the idea that everyone is going to make it back to the station that processed them?
What a touching and haunting set of photos.
16
If your wonder for one second how an advanced, wealthy and educated nation can sink into the depravity of the Third Reich, this gives a hint. It is seen in the methodical destruction of moral and ethical boundaries, scapegoating, and the use of lies and propaganda to promote a cult of personality surrounding a narcissist and uncaring leader.
This photographs tell a tale of cruelty and the objectification of human beings. They are chilling in their portrayal of madness.
The world taking advantage of the US? I think not. The US has 25% of the world’s wealth. American economic and military imperialism is alive and well.
20
Zero tolerance apparently also mean zero tolerance for food or toys or personal hygiene or religious freedom or work or even Curious George. Cruelty that hearkens similar evil in Europe in WW2. How could we ever imagine or allow this. It can happen here. The voting citizens of the USA have elected a government to bring about a novus-gestapo force. Unfortunately, there are plenty of US citizens who will be more than happy to carry out the indignities and immoralities as directed by those who claim it is to preserve law and order. One does not need to wear jackboots to meet the criteria for a "jackbooted thug", the term Wayne LaPierre uses to rally the NRA. As we all know, the good news of the New Testament is much more dangerous than guns. Still is news even though we claim to be a Christian Nation.
12
As an American citizen who does Holocaust research in this country and who has visited many concentration camps, including Auschwitz, we have seen this before--only worse and more horrible and terrifying than these images are.
These are photographs.
In Auschwitz there are many glass cases full of human hair, teeth, suitcases, eyeglasses, prayer shawls, false teeth and its in the millions.
Every single time I am present at a Stepping Stone ceremony in this country to honor the murdered I die a bit inside. You can't do this work daily and not be present in the horrors that mankind are capable of. And of course we know from history how ready and delighted many people were to engage in this torture and murder. Of millions.
These are dark times in my country. Let's take time to consider what the American government is doing in our name. As we've seen in history things can spin out of control very quickly.
We need to remember the years 1938-1945 and the millions who perished in those ovens. There's not one day that goes by when I don't remember. In this line of work its just impossible to forget. When you know the humans who were slaughtered and what happened to them it not only feels personal--IT IS.
They are my family. I love them. I want their names remembered and also the awful fates that awaited them in HELL.
These are disturbing pictures. When you are before the REAL THING you feel as though you could go mad. You never forget it, nor can you.
7
What interested me the most while reading this article, was the fact that so many items not only essentials but personal items were thrown away at the border. From things like soap, toothpaste, and toothbrushes to Bibles, stuffed animals, toys to birth control and condoms. All of these items, most that are needed on a daily mind you, were thrown away at the border during a bag check. As said in the article, “agents confiscate items migrants carry with them, much like when a person is admitted to jail.” When someone crossed the border, it was as if they were going to jail. They were stripped of everything. Sometimes including their identity. This is because wallets and billfolds were often taken away. As said in the article by Mr. Kiefer, “They’d still have their identification in the wallet.” Most people’s wallets had some of their most important items, including credit cards, licenses, and personal identifications. It is just cruel they were stripped of such things. Another thing that shocked me was that unopened food was being thrown away. Specifically Tuny, which was a small can filled with tuna which was said to be perfect for traveling in the article. I found all of this to be very interesting because all of the items taken away from these people are things they need. Things that they were just going to have to buy again, but probably wouldn’t be able to buy because their credit cards and wallets were taken away from them.
20
I would like to ask the NYT to give this article a more prominent place on the offerings that come up on the laptop screen. It deserves a larger canvas than the Arts section provides as fewer readers will look here than in the politics section, or the opinion section.
19
Take away their combs and toothbrushes? Seems like more a way of dehumanizing the migrants. Cruel and unnecessary.
28
I am at a loss as to how these items can be dangerous...
Seems senseless to me to take away any contraceptives given the rhetoric "they come here and have 10 kids, then we support them!"
Why confiscate a bible? Again, would think such an item would be welcomed based on the rhetoric "we are a Christian nation"?
How exactly is a child's toy a threat?
Or a pair of gloves?
Or a bar of soap? Soap!
All I can say is how very Christian of us.....
26
Indeed ... this is about dehumanizing people and making it easier for the guards to detest them. If you no longer see them as human beings deserving of dignity then it is easy to abuse them further. This is the realm of totalitarianism wherever it raises its foul head.
14
Why do you think humans are more worthy of life, or special treatment/privileges than any other living thing? Humans are vermin by any definition you care to use, and are despoiling the planet with their reckless acts - but most especially their rampant overbreeding. At the current pace, it will not be long before a mass die-off happens. The only question is how that will be accomplished.
Some commenters resist any comparison between these photos and photos of items displayed at the Holocaust Museum.
In the name of "great" national security,, the inhumane treatment of the 'other' is justified.
I wonder if people realize that over 90% of murders in this country are justified by the perpetrator. They've been wronged and now they're going to fix it. Beware the righteous!
As Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shall know them". These are images of a rotten fruit.
12
Tangent: In using as part of the the title "The Things They Carried," credit should be expressly given to Tim O'Brien, author of the book referenced.
7
Great book!
4
Why any of these items taken away from these immigrants is beyound me as I don't understand how they are considered "dangerous" but to take away one's bibles and roseries and discard them is appaling.These people are very religious and to take that away from them,well let's say,this is not the USA that I grew up in.
18
Why the wallets WITH their valuables? Seriously, might as well strip them naked too. For shame. I seem to think and say that a lot about our country lately. For shame. And thank you for a very insightful look at how we denigrate people in need.
18
Why do "we" take everything away from immigrants?
Is it just gratuitous cruelty?
12
Beautiful, sad pictures clearly showing that Trump's description is wrong. These are not animals, they are PEOPLE, just like us.
12
Cruelty— merciless cruelty.
14
Just to think that it’s someone’s job to be a janitor on the border. And to find out that he’s an artist, too. Mesmerizing.
16
Things will be better now, Mexico just elected a socialist president. Funny, none of the pictures show passports.
And this was happening during 8 years of the savior Obama?
Why all the press coverage now? Because the Democratic agenda is "Hate Trump". It's not working. The New York Times has to try to rabble the haters with every article.
And once again....where was this story during the Obama
coronation?
2
With all due respect, I disagree. I think the topic here is far more important than any president, party, country or any stunted, warped feeling like hate. It's about humanity, civility, how we treat each other. What we are willing to do (or have done) to others to gratify ourselves.
And what better to start off that conversation than photos of inanimate objects that once belonged to people: a beloved cuddly toy, a means of keeping clean, maintaining dignity, surviving – items that are not seen as foreign, alien, threatening like many see the people who actually carried the items. Items people are not prejudiced, bigoted, fearful or hateful towards. Therein lies the power of the photos, to invite self-reflection, invite a humanitarian conversation through a shared understanding of common items.
16
Oh, Steve, this is a stain on every administration involved and the cruelty obviously predates Obama as well. Trump has simply made the border a greater travesty than the rest by ramping up the cruelty and giving it a public blessing. There is a very foul underbelly to all North American (Canada, the US, and Mexico) nation’s. Their treatment of their indigenous populations is the most obvious and that is ongoing and obscene. Trump’s unconstrained narcissism and licensing of far-right hatred and bigotry has simply shone a spotlight on that underbelly.
14
Very nice. Thank you for sharing Sir.
4
The sad humanity of it all. How can we look at these pictures and not see these fellow travelers on our shared journey through time and space? These pictures are all of us. What are we doing and why are we doing it? History will not treat us well. Thank you, Mr. Keifer, for giving a voice to the voiceless and nameless.
12
Brilliant. Thank you for these photos, Mr. Kiefer & NYT.
4
Thank you for sharing this. Creativity and sensitivity - amazing.
4
What an exceptional man. Thank you Mr.Kiefer.
11
When I look at these photographs, I don't just see a cruel and indifferent government; I see obsequious and indifferent people following orders, implementing them to cruel extremes, because it's their job, because they think that alleviates them from morality. It's important to remember that everything comes down to the complicity of the individual. Compassion and morality are taught at a very young age, if taught at all. As is cruelty. Looking here upon the evidence of the cruel, hardened society that we are, it is time to look at the cultural poisons and parental failings that have created it. Look into that pink mirror, proud American, and you might see yourself.
34
Ah, indeed, you are right. Buffy Sainte-Marie said it so well:
He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war
5
Beautiful and moving.
Why?
9
They are beautiful because these photographs humanize the people that nation is dehumanizing. They give life. In another sense you are right, they are also frightening because they are a reflection of the very personal cruelty of the human species. Individual people were this obscene - the guards “just doing their jobs” were responsible for this and it should resonate clearly that if they are willing to do this, many will be willing to do much worse.
5
America The Beautiful, my favorite anthem.
But a song written today might be America The Ugly, Stupid and Mean.
These pictures somehow convey both Americas.
20
Much much more important would be the things they left behind! And why.
6
the image of gloves just did me in.
12
Would be interested in a follow up article and/or addendum as to whether Mr. Kiefer donates the proceeds of museum admissions, licensing the photos, selling them, etc., to migrant justice, refugee, and pro-immigration organizations.
4
What? Tom Kiefer is a photographer. He doesn't own the museums where his work is exhibited. Photographers and artists don't get a cut of museum admissions. Whatever gave you that idea?
Did you read the article?
"For more than a decade, Mr. Kiefer worked as a janitor at the Customs and Border Protection center in Why, Ariz., before leaving in 2014.
Mr. Kiefer moved to Ajo, Ariz., in 2001, which is 10 miles from the Border Patrol center in Why. There, he could afford to own his own home and pursue his love of photography."
Whatever gave you the idea that Tom Kiefer is wealthy, and could donate his income from his work? And whatever gave you the idea that Mr. Kiefer, or any other photographer, doesn't deserve to earn money for his/her photographic works, including when a photographer is lucky enough to have an exhibit in a museum? And whatever gave you the idea that museums pay a lot to visual creators? Whatever gave you the idea that photographers earn a lot of money from licensing? Or "selling" editorial photographs? Did you miss the information that Tom Kiefer had been working as a janitor?
Whatever gave you the idea that you ought to judge what visual creators do with their income? Because of the subject matter of their images????
28
Thank you
3
Learn the truth.
You live in a neighborhood.
In a house.
A man who lives in a house a few blocks away doesn't like the way you've chosen to live your life.
Doesn't like your choices. Fears you and your choices.
Even though you've done nothing wrong and don't threaten him at all.
He's the most powerful man in the neighborhood.
Biggest home, most wealthy.
But, he fears you because he thinks you threaten his home, his lifestyle, his family.
So…
One day he decides to sabatoge your home.
And your family. And your life.
He up-ends your home and your family's stability.
His fears and prejudices drive his actions even though they are irrational.
Now, because of him, you have no home.
And your family is unsafe. Your kids and you live with no future.
One night, desperate, fearing for your life, with nothing to lose, you take the incredibly risky choice of trying to get into that man's home! The man who sabatoged YOUR home for no good reason.
Because even though the man harmed you and dislikes you, his is the only home in the neighborhood with some sense of safety. There are rooms and people and rules in the home that will give your family a chance at not dying.
*The policy of the United States in the 1980s was to sabatoge freely elected governments in Central America.*
We payed vicious mercenaries to up-end their societies out of our own (Reagan's) irrational fear.
We ruined their house deliberately.
Now, they seek shelter in our house.
Simple.
26
Paul King, excellent analysis of the situation! Nothing happens in a vacuum and out of the blue. Sadly, so many Americans are either ignorant, or completely deny, what happened only a few decades ago, so they refuse to connect the dots.
5
For a more sobering perspective, go to any homeless shelter in America housing American citizens, and see the items that they cling to as their entire world shrinks to a tiny room with a bed that they understand they will only occupy temporarily.
The funds, attention, and care that should be going to our homeless American citizens are being siphoned off to ensure that calculating, trespassing, illegal aliens have a perpetually comfortable existence in our country.
The most sensible thing to do is to immediately expel all illegal aliens from our country. It just makes good sense.
5
This is the richest nation the world has ever known. Our military budget is more than what is spent in the next 12 nations combined.
But you think it’s poor desperate people trying to escape economic turmoil and violence caused in large part by US policies.
But you have no problem with that.
7
NorthernVirginia, you think expelling all undocumented immigrants will solve the problems of the homeless in the US? That is laughable. Clearly, you have no grasp of reality, as evidenced by your belief that undocumented immigrants have "a perpetually comfortable existence in our country."
Both homelessness and Immigration are complex issues with no easy answers. Just like world hunger is not really about food scarcity, but about political will, so too are homelessness and immigration. Considerable lack of political will, both from politicians and the public, prevent a thorough, truthful look at the issues, let alone coming up with true solutions. It's so much easier to vilify and scapegoat a group of people, and shrug your shoulders or shake your fists.
6
The US is the wealthiest nation in the world by far. It has the resources to support its existing populations. However, in its illogical and ignorant fear of social structures it trades support for its peoples health and well being for the massive expenditures to a military industrial complex. Heck, just in sporting arms and ammunition US consumers spend something in the order of $51 billion a year.
2
Cruel... It is beyond cruel. It’s embarrassing to which we have sunk as a nation. This has degraded us all every man and jack of us.
23
Thanks to Mr. Keifer for documenting these confiscations. The fact that almost all items are not dangerous and yet they were taken from those that already were destitute is proof positive of the capricious cruelty of the Federal Government. Oh and how the mendacity of that Government has has grown since Trump took office.
23
The function of art at work here. You can read it in the comments, especially those which reveal discomfort.
20
At our neighborhood block party this weekend, I chatted with a retired couple who migrated from China. The husband left China as a 5 year-old, lived and worked in several countries before settling in the US.
He said it took him years to enter this country legally and become a citizen; he wondered why all the illegal immigrants felt they should walk right in.
8
The man you met may not know what life is like in Guatemala and El Salvador. Is he sure that his parents would have put another country's laws above the safety of their own children -- especially if one of that country's most famous monuments offered words of welcome to refugees and it was possible to walk across the border?
8
Would that everyone wanting to immigrate had the time, opportunity and ability to live and work elsewhere while waiting. My ancestors, only a few generations back, were immigrants from Germany who had no waiting line. They were welcomed in immediately as people who were needed for the country to prosper, though they were blacksmiths and farmers, skills not much valued in today's culture. It does not take much of a reading of history to understand how the USA has acted in ways that have promoted violence and poverty in the countries south of our border for both political posturing and profit of USA business. If those who come across our borders have it so good where they are, why do they risk so much to try to be here? I think a little look past the fakery and hyperbole of this and past Administrations and politicians will reveal the vast majority are fleeing desperate situations, situations the USA has both secretly and openly worked to create over many decades. If we are getting the "wretched refuse of your teeming shore", you need to understand we helped create the situations that created such wretched desperation. Wait your turn means wait your turn and die waiting.
8
Why don’t you open your ears and listen to these poor desperate families seeking asylum, trying to escape economic turmoil and violence. Open your ears. Listen.
4
I see a lot of brands that I recognize. Some based in the United States, though most (if not all) of these products are not made here.
Strict immigration yet loose trade and capital are, above all, an opportunity for enormous economic arbitrage, and profit, by a small cabal of global enterprises. Where do those profits go? Certainly not to the people responsible for the manufacture of these items. Increasingly, those profits are not even going to the United States.
The subtext of the immigration debate must be economic at its core. I've yet to see this issue truly pried apart on the right or the left.
6
Before seeing these photographs, were you unaware that American companies sell products in other countries? And have Colonial days?
3
These images, while heartbreaking are exceptional. It would be great if he could do a traveling exhibit and have it tour the country, no only for its content, but what is has to say on so many levels.
25
It would take a heart of stone to look at these pink combs and, knowing how they came to be together, not be moved.
42
I read through the comments thinking someone else might have a problem with what Mr. Kiefer has done with these items: prettified them using his professional sense of graphic design (his janitor job was a temporary one; he was trained in art and worked in the field before moving to Ajo, AZ). But it seems no one else is uncomfortable with it. I lived in Ajo and worked with the Samaritans there, placing gallons of water in the desert for heat-distressed migrants crossing the desert. I saw Mr. Kiefer's first exhibit of these photos last year in Arizona. I have to say I feel he is exploiting these people by using items stolen from them by a Border Patrol that acted in a very fascist way. The article states that those items are later returned to the migrants. I know for a fact that this is not true. No matter how long migrants are detained at the facility near Ajo, where Kiefer worked, they are not returned. They are thrown away, and Mr. Kiefer pulled them from the trash without anyone's permission. These migrants have suffered hardships very few citizens of the USA can even imagine. While I was in Ajo, I tried many times to find out if Mr. Kiefer was donating at least some of the money he is making on this art to humanitarian groups or legal aid groups who assist migrants crossing that horrifying desert. No one seemed to know. If he did so, I would feel much better about his work.
18
@Matt Stowell: the photographer worked as a JANITOR to support himself, because, news flash, artists don't make a lot of money. He came into this project salvaging food to donate to food banks! And you are suggesting he is somehow exploiting the immigrants to make a fortune? He is publicizing the migrants' hardships and the appalling treatment at the hands of border control (throwing away people's wallets, ID and cash? contraception?) in a way that makes everyone aware and care about them. How dare you cast aspersions and flaunt your delicate feelings about his work!
41
My delicate feelings? My friends (and ex-wives) would get a good laugh over that one.
And it's not a news flash for me that artists don't (usually) make a lot of money. I'm an artist myself and I've had perhaps 65 different jobs over the years to make ends meet, though I never stooped so low as to work for the Border Patrol. It would be great if Mr. Kiefer's art made everyone aware and care about the migrant situation, but I don't think it does. He cleans the items up and, as I said, prettifies them. The reactions I've seen at his exhibit is more of "Oh, isn't that cute." or "How clever he is to make a bunch of soap bars look so intriguing." It has a novelty aspect to its appeal. And saying that he was a janitor adds the romantic bohemian element to it. But if, as you say, this attention on his "work" makes people more aware in general, then Bravo! And I still think (and I see now that others have suggested this) that he spread the profits around a bit.
I think those responses totally miss the point of his work. It's not a novelty, it's a sad documentary as to how people are treated in this world.
5
These photos are, at one time, art, history, and devastating social commentary.
A couple of days ago, the Times ran a story on the absence of any appreciation of art, from performance to visual, in the current Administration. Shown these pictures, Trump would be completely stumped as to why anyone would waste time photographing "trash."
45
Stuffed animals and toys. Credit cards and IDs. Prescription drugs.
In our name, with our money, everything is taken from these fellow human beings and called trash.
Even the worst criminals get their belongings back when they are released from prison. How can this happen?
Thank you Laura Holson and Tom Kiefer for being witnesses to this travesty.
77
The photographer most probably broke a US government policy or law when he took these photos. Taking a series of 600 photos during his job at the Customs and Border Protection center was definitely not within his official job capacity. And he seems to be profiting from this unauthorized action to boot.
How many Americans are permitted to can take photos at work, not within their job capacity, and then share with an art museum and the media? Especially if the photos will be used to reflect negatively on your workplace? Not many, if any!
Obama prosecuted and jailed a patriotic US sailor, Kristian Saucier, for taking a forbidden pic in his submarine, even though he had no ill intent. He did not take it to make a political statement or to profit from it, but just to keep as an ill-advised memento.
The media at the time did not criticize the Obama administration for their heavy-handed and overblown prosecution of the hapless sailor, but will no doubt try to turn the photographer into a folk hero and use the pics to criticize the US Border Control agency. There is a double standard.
4
I don't believe this is the same issue at all. The photos here of discarded items do not compare to the photos of the submarine that Saucier took. He knew he was breaking Naval regulations which are very strict on submarines for obvious national security reasons. Next you will be arguing that Saucier's illegal photos were no worse than Hillary's email on her private server.... Oh wait, Trump already did that and issued a pardon for Saucier!
In 2009, Saucier took photographs of classified areas on the submarine while it was moored at Naval Submarine Base New London in Connecticut. The photographs showed components of the submarine nuclear propulsion system, including "various control panels, a panoramic view of the reactor compartment and a panel that showed the condition and exact location of the submarine at the time the photo was taken. FBI forensics showed that some of the photographs were taken at unusual hours, such as one photograph taken at 4 a.m. and others taken at 1:30 a.m.
Personal electronic devices are prohibited aboard U.S. submarines owing to sensitive areas on board.
Saucier was arrested in May 2015 and charged with unlawful retention of national defense information and obstruction of justice in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. In May 2016, he pleaded guilty to unlawful retention of national defense information.
22
This photographer, unlike the Navy sailor, was not taking photos of his workplace. If he had been snapping photos of Customs employees at work, or even of the facilities, that would be a different matter. He was a janitor, responsible for taking out the trash, and, with the knowledge of his colleagues, rescuing from the trash items that he thought worth saving. No policy or law against that, unlike the sailor, who violated a very clear prohibition against taking photos of a classified area inside a submarine. In addition, it's pretty clear that these montages were arranged and photographed in the janitor's home or studio, rather than at work. So, where's the double standard?
In addition, these photos do not "criticize the US Border Control Agency" -- they merely document the personal keepsakes and possessions of immigrants who are stripped of all they value and jailed when they show up on our borders.
24
wow, you really miss the point.
There are similar photos of belongings from Jewish families confiscated during World War II. Prosaic and treasures alike. No article was too common to be taken. What could possibly be dangerous about a comb or brush? The juxtaposition of the belongings of Nazi prisoners and the border detainees’ is jarring and frightening.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke
72
There is absolutely no line between the Holocaust victims and those wanting to enter the United States in 2018. To continue with this false narrative smears the memory of those murdered in the gas chambers and beyond.
4
Some Holocaust survivors and their descendants would disagree with you. Those people are joining the protests, and expressing their disgust at the current situation on social media, precisely because they do see a similar pattern emerging here in the US. Remember that the gas chambers is not how it all started in Germany. The actions of the government incrementally led to said gas chambers over a matter of years.
These people, among whom I am privileged to live and work alongside, are unfailingly gracious, humble, grateful for the slightest assistance, and have family values that put Trump supporters to shame.
They are hardworking, tidy, clean, and mannerly, and it sickens me that they would be stripped of the barest essentials they felt necessary - particularly the grooming and hygiene supplies, the condoms and contraceptives, their wallets and gloves.
Who would consider these "dangerous" items? Seriously??
Having been a home visitor with the "Healthy Families" program of the Bush years (a free service offering parent education and child-rearing best practices to first time parents who signed up for the program voluntarily) I worked with dozens of families who spoke only Spanish.
They are consistently the most orderly, cleanest, self-respecting young families in the entire city. Family values are extremely important to them, as is personal dignity.
To this travesty of heartless muggings and highway robbery I say on their behalf: "¡Qué barbaridad!"
53
Thank you for retrieving and displaying these “artifacts” of humanity. Each reflects the dignity and hope of its owner.
37
These photographs brought tears to my eyes. It humanizes the poor, the desperate, allowing us to see our shared humanity. What we are doing is evil. THANK YOU TOM.
45
These photographs are a moving memorial to how we have been dehumanizing migrants. Why take their licenses, or any of those things. The irony of seeing these items presented through the contemporary art style is doubly powerful. What other contemporary art has this clear a moral impact?
36
Thank you so much Tom for your humility in capturing these haunting, thought provoking images and sharing with us.
32
Stripping people of the little they have.
Sort of says it all.
Thank you for your care in collecting these objects & creating such poignant images. Some day another DC museum will hang them on walls to remind us of this shame.
86
It is so clear that the confiscating of these personal items is meant to dehumanize their owners; to make them feel devalued and belittled; and to show them the contempt in which they are held by our government.
I am - today and every day - disgusted and ashamed by what is being done in my name.
83
These photos make me unspeakably sad. They're a blunt testimony to how the US is systematically de-humanizing migrants.
64
Tom Kiefer, you have documented the undocumented and archived the shame of our country in how we treat these people. The irony of confiscating identification while criminalizing the lack of proper ID is the Trumpian way. Thank you for bringing this to light in such an undeniable and impactful way.
37
These were from Bush and Obama years, just to be fair.
23
I’m very touched by the pictures. It’s very humane and cruel together. For the photographer, thanks for both the tremendous work and emotional charge you have placed into this work.
29
Someone should publish a book of these photos with a portion of the proceeds going to fight for immigrant rights
55
I would gladly buy this book, probably more than one.
8
The gloves made me think of my neighbors in Immokalee, Fla.
Nearly all of the tomatoes and peppers eaten by people on east coast in the winter are grown in Immokalee and picked by the very illegal immigrants that wear those gloves.
Immokalee was featured in Edward R Morrow’s 1960 documentary, “Harvest of Shame”. Nothing has changed in Immokalee except instead of poor whites, blacks and Caribbean migrants, the work is done almost exclusively by illegals from Mexico and Central America.
This happens here in Collier County where a beach front “compound” just sold for $48.8 MILLION.
54
Well thought-out, beautiful composition for these pictures. Congratulations! It made me think of the pile of shoes I saw in a recent visit to the Holocaust Museum. In fact, every story I read about these migrant's journeys reminds me of the cards you get at the museum with holocaust victim's or survivor's stories.
25
Every country has immigration laws and they are there for a reason. Every immigrant up until the current day has had to abide by those rules with the population supporting enforcement. When you speak to people who were stateless and had no choice but to leave a country, you understand some of the intense suffering. These photos are powerful and, yes, images of Holocaust Museums and Ellis Island come to mind. What no one seems to focus on is that the villians are not the countries being inundated, but the governments from which these people are fleeing. Where is the UN in this? Why can't UN international safe zones be established within the continents that are unliveable? Europe cannot absorb the Middle East and Africa and the US cannot absorb South and Central America. Step back and see the real problem.
10
You can support the immigration laws of this country, as I do, and still appreciate the beauty and humanity in these photos.
19
Step back and consider how much of the chaos, violence and suffering that migrants are fleeing is due to this country's policies toward Mexico and Central America over centuries. And how the suffering is extended by confiscating these things in an apparent campaign to dehumanize the migrants when they get here. Toothbrushes, for heaven's sake! Soap! Toys!
22
This sounds like a total disconnect on your part. I invite you to act on the dismay you must really be feeling over needless trashing of human lives. When did your family arrive to the US?
I would never support any an open border or lack of real screening
That doesn’t mean the way we do things is right or make economic sense for the USA Are you very sure you support the immigration laws we have that include a mandatory quota of 30,000 minimum must be detained at all times. How do you feel when you get an unjust traffic ticket because your local police have a ticket quota to maintain? Now up that to human lives
Make no mistake, immigration control is big business for the US.
8
Hauntingly beautiful photographs.
I am among the many millions of Americans who are haunted by how the current administration is treating human beings at the southern border.
For shame.
53
Thank you Mr. Kiefer for sharing these remarkable, yet simple images. Scrolling through them made me pause after each one and reflect on not only the image, but your genuine sense of compassion and detail to the roots of social justice. I take my hat off to you, more should be like you in this dreadful time.
58
I was particularly struck by the photograph "Gloves," 2013.
It reminded me of a display of shoes at Yad Vashem - the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
39
All of these remind me of Holocaust memorials, in particular, at Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
16
Thank you Mr. Kiefer for these bautiful and thoughtful photographs. Most of all, thank you for your humanity in documenting this story.
66
So sad in more ways than only the messages Mr. Kiefer’ brilliantly composed photos convey. I was particularly impressed by the composition of the toy cars, where some are neatly arranged and others turned upside-down at (supposedly) random angles.
At a bar I used to frequent where the entire clientele was middle-aged and older black men, I met so many truck drivers, janitors, and other low paid workers who could have easily aced college courses. (I have a masters degree and taught a few college classes.) it is also such a shame, waste of talent, and harmful to our nation’s economy that so many smart and capable people are tracked into dead-end jobs because of our failure to support quality schools and make college unaffordable for people who have the intelligence to earn college degrees.
At the very least, we need to put an end to forcing teachers to pay thousands of dollars of their own money for school supplies in elementary and high high school class supplies, and to make a two-year college education affordable for everyone with the ability to pass the courses they take.
30
How moving. Such beautiful photos, so powerful.
Brilliant!
22
These photographs are gorgeous, human and heartbreaking. I no longer understand the positions my country has taken on immigrants.
64
I would like to believe that all who view this collection of photographs will feel empathy for migrants, and push for a solution to the despair wrought by a loss of dignity. Though the pictures' seriousness best suits the solemn atmosphere of museums, all Americans need to see these; how can the exposure be maximized without reducing the gravity?
I am struck by the callousness in confiscating personal care items. Anyone who has forgotten a toothbrush or hairbrush on a camping or overnight trip remembers feeling less themselves. To have such items removed intentionally by someone in power is designed to intimidate as well as reinforce that one is less than human, undeserving of the means - or need - to care for hygiene. Humiliation results.
Seeing the contraceptives enraged me: these are not remotely connected to pleasure, hope, or expectation, but rather responsibility. To rob a woman of her contraception is to make her even more vulnerable and powerless to control her destiny.
I am immensely grateful to Mr. Kiefer for his care and foresight, as well as to The New York Times.
107
Where do you think you are ? In a civilized nation ? Among civilized people?
1
I'm reminded of the huge display cases I saw decades ago at the Auschwitz internment and extermination camp: filled with thousands of eyeglasses, shoes and prosthetic limbs.
The detritus of human lives testifying for humans treated like trash.
17