On the Border with Kung Li
By Maria Archuleta
This summer, human-rights activist Kung Li drove along the entire length of the U.S.–Mexico border from San Diego, California, to Brownsville, Texas. As Li traveled through the border region for the first time, this lifelong Southerner documented the intersections of the criminal justice and immigration systems using photography, humor, and often heart-wrenching stories of real people impacted by current immigration policy.
Why should you take a look at On the Border with Kung Li? Maybe you want to learn more about one of the most hotly debated issues in the United States. Maybe you just like smart writing that weaves together history, policy, pop culture, and current events.
For example, in “Border Patrol Overkill,” Li discusses patrol agents’ chagrin at their inability to stop “national security threats” like dog whisperer Cesar Milan from unauthorized entry into the United States. In “For CCA and Country,” we learn of the horrifying plight of the Dream 9, who are incarcerated at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona. In “Carlos Danger,” Li uses politician Anthony Weiner’s infamous alias as a starting point to explain just how dangerous the border actually is.
Don’t keep this treasure trove to yourself. Share On the Border with colleagues, relatives, friends, and enemies.
On the Border with Kung Li was commissioned by CAMBIO, a coalition seeking immigration reform.
Kung Li is a consultant for Detention Watch Network, Rights Working Group, and the CAMBIO Campaign, all of which are Open Society grantees.
Until March 2014, Maria Archuleta was a communications officer for U.S. Programs at the Open Society Foundations.
