One Photographer Traveled the Full Length of the U.S. Border With Mexico

3 minute read
Updated: | Originally published: ;

Since these photos were taken, Donald Trump won the election. During his first week in office, President Trump signed executive actions on immigration and the construction of a border wall.

Over the course of several recent weeks, Getty Images photographer John Moore visited the Imperial Sand Dunes of southern California, Big Bend National Park in West Texas and the Boca Chica State Park, where the Rio Grande flows into the Gulf of Mexico. Moore wasn’t on holiday, but on assignment documenting the full length of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Stretching over 1,989 miles, the border is monitored by a wide array of federal agencies. There’s the Office of Field Operations, which regulated ports of entries and border crossings. There’s the Air and Marine Operations, which fly over border areas. There are 20,000 personnel that make up the Border Patrol. And there’s also the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, whose role is to deport undocumented immigrants. As Americans get ready to vote in November, Moore was motivated to capture those many moving pieces.

“With Donald Trump and his intention to build a wall, I thought it was important to show the immense security apparatus the U.S. already has in place,” he tells TIME. (His take on that plan? The wall “is not a realistic answer,” Moore says. “The saying goes, bigger wall equals taller ladders.”)

But, though the election gave him a reason to focus on the project, Moore has been documenting the border on and off for the past six years. “I already had solid contacts, both with U.S. federal agencies and NGOs, so I didn’t have to start this project completely from scratch,” he says. “I reached out to them a few weeks ahead of the trip to set up access at official border crossings and to fly with agents who patrol the border by helicopter, both day and night. On the Mexican side, immigrant rights activists were generous in helping me to photograph deportees, as I wanted to humanize this story as well.”

The fate of undocumented immigrants has been a thorny issue in this year’s election, with the Republican presidential candidate vowing to deport the large majority of them. But, says Moore, the irony of President Obama’s administration’s existing immigration policy “is that while it has pushed a progressive agenda on reforms, it has also deported more people that previous presidents.”

Both presidential candidates have laid out their immigration plans, and Moore says he hopes that after the campaign is over, there will be time to come up with real answers to the questions posed by the border. “There’s a lot of common ground in this country to come up with solutions,” he says. “Immigration and border security are not intractable problems, just big issues.”

Whatever happens, there’s no doubt this issue will remain a high priority in the coming months and years—and as it evolves, Moore will be ready to go back to the border.

John Moore is a staff photographer at Getty Images.

Chelsea Matiash, who edited this photo essay, is TIME’s Deputy Multimedia Editor. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @cmatiash.

Olivier Laurent is the editor of TIME LightBox. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @olivierclaurent

Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
A U.S. Border Patrol agent removes a ladder used by undocumented immigrants to climb a border fence on Oct. 18, 2016 near McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents fly near the U.S.-Mexico border while on helicopter patrol on Oct. 18, 2016 near McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
A U.S. Border Patrol agent detains a group of undocumented immigrants on Oct. 18, 2016 near McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
People stand in line to cross legally into the United States from Mexico on Sept. 24, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico.John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
The Rio Grande forms a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 15, 2016 in the Big Bend region of West Texas near Lajitas, Texas. Big Bend is a rugged, vast and remote region along the U.S.-Mexico border and includes the Big Bend National Park.John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
U.S. Border Patrol agents with a K-9 unit detain undocumented immigrants after they illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 18, 2016, in McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
This photo made with a smart phone through night vision goggles shows the Rio Grande flowing along the U.S.-Mexico border, as seen from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter during a patrol over the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 18, 2016 in McAllen, Texas. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
The moon rises over the swirling current of the Rio Grande on Oct. 15, 2016 in the Big Bend region of West Texas near Lajitas, Texas. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
A bullet-proof shield stands to aid U.S. Border Patrol agents on the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 3, 2016 in El Paso, Texas. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
A child plays in the Pacific surf near the U.S.-Mexico border fence on Sept. 25, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico. The nearby Friendship Park is one of the few places on the 2,000-mile border where separated families are allowed to meet. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
Dunes stretch into the distance near the U.S.-Mexico border on Sept. 27, 2016 in the Imperial Sand Dunes recreation area, California. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
Mexican farm workers hoe a cabbage field on Sept. 27, 2016, in Holtville, Calif. Thousands of Mexican seasonal workers legally cross over daily from Mexicali, Mexico to work the fields of Imperial Valley, Calif., which is some of the most productive farmland in the United States. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
A man looks through the U.S.-Mexico border fence into the United States on Septt. 25, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
A Studebaker sits outside a cotton field near the U.S.-Mexico border on Oct. 14, 2016 near Fort Hancock, Texas. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
Bodies of suspected undocumented immigrants lie in the morgue at the Office of the Pima County Medical Examiner on Sept. 29, 2016 in Tucson, Ariz. Hundreds of migrants die every year in the desert while crossing illegally from Mexico into the United States. John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
Personal effects found on the body of a suspected undocumented immigrant are stored at the Office of the Pima County Medical Examiner on Sept. 29, 2016 in Tucson, Ariz.John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
Dinner tables await immigrants, many of them deportees from the United States, at the Casa del Migrante Sept. 23, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico. The shelter, run by Catholic priests, is part of the Coalicion Pro Defensa, which aids immigrants and asylum applicants seeking entry into the United States. The coalition of immigrant advocates has helped thousands of migrants on their journey north and many more after being being deported from the United States.John Moore—Getty Images
Immigration And Border Security Issues Loom Heavy In Upcoming U.S. Elections
Mexicans enjoy a late afternoon near the U.S.-Mexico border fence, which ends in the Pacific Ocean, on Sept. 25, 2016 in Tijuana, Mexico. Friendship Park, located on the border between the two countries is one of the few places on the 2,000-mile border where separated families are allowed to meet. John Moore—Getty Images

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com