Project

Drawing the Line: The U.S.- Mexico Border

Image by © Louie Palu/ZUMA. United States, 2012.

While traveling along several sections of the U.S.- Mexico border, journalist and photographer Louie Palu examined some of the important issues in the region including drug-related violence and immigration.

From California to Texas, Palu met with locals on both sides of the border – migrants and deportees, politicians and their supporters, police officers and drug enforcement agents. He listened and observed as they went about their daily business in the borderland where smuggling, gang-led violence, corruption and extortion have become a way of life.

This project introduces us to the people who straddle the border, many leading lives of desperation. It also presses the case for the U.S. and Mexico to take action. Developing more realistic government policies for the region is one of the most important economic and security challenges now facing both countries.

Drug Addiction Along the Mexican Border

Along the border fences that stretch between Tijuana and Tecate, U.S. Border Patrol agents use small openings to monitor the Mexican side. Heroin addiciton is prevalent along the Tijuana River.

Drug Addiction in Tijuana

Traveling to Tijuana, Louie Palu speaks to deportees who have become heroin addicts and to rehab center staff members who operate needle exchange programs.