How Trump's immigration policies hurt people's lives – in pictures

Exhibit at the Bronx Documentary Center, the first in a year-long series, aims to document the current president’s overturning of decades of American immigration policy and law, and its profound effects on American society and the lives of immigrants

Main image: Pastor Jonathan and his wife Gladys at their wedding photoshoot in front of the US-Mexico border fence in Tijuana, Mexico. The border is a symbolic place for Jonathan and Gladys, who both grew up in California but now live in Tijuana separated from their family. Photograph: Griselda San Martin/Courtesy Bronx Documentary Center

  • ‘I don’t have a backyard, I have a border fence,’ Melissa Solis says. When construction of the fence started on their land, ‘All my mom did was cry,’ Solis, a school administrator, adds
    Elliot Ross ‘American Backyard’ “I don’t have a backyard, I have a border fence,” Melissa Solis says. When construction of the fence started on their land that has been in the Solis family for generations, “All my mom did was cry. (...) You know, you come to realize in the United States, you can’t really be free, it’s just like any other country,” Melissa, a school administrator, adds. According to the Cato Institute, the United States ranks 17th on the Human Freedom Index.

  • Amanda Morales, center, is blessed by the members of Holyrood church congregation, where Amanda and her family have been living in sanctuary since 2017
    Cinthya Santos-Briones ‘Living in Sanctuary’ Amanda Morales, center, is blessed by the members of Holyrood church congregation, where Amanda and her family have been living in sanctuary since 2017. Amanda took refuge in Holyrood Episcopal Church in Washington Heights, Manhattan with her three children for fear of being deported. She had been living in New York since 2004. Since 2012, Amanda had been under supervision with immigration authorities and was complying with all that she was asked. In early May she was told to present herself with one-way ticket to Guatemala, on August 17, 2017 to be deported.

  • Pro Amore shelter in Tijuana, Mexico
    Pro Amore Shelter in Tijuana, Mexico.

  • Mexican high school students re-enact a night march that many migrants made to the US. The march was organized by Parque EcoAlberto in El Alberto
    Mexican high school students reenact a night march that many migrants made to the United States. The march was organized by Parque EcoAlberto in El Alberto.

  • A bullet-ridden car caught in Sinaloa cartel shootout
    A bullet-ridden car caught in Sinaloa cartel shoot-out.

  • A man lies in a park in Tijuana, at the US-Mexico border
    A man lies on a park in Tijuana, at the USA-Mexico border.

  • Alley off O Reilly Street in Presidio, Texas
    Alley off O Reilly Street in Presidio, Texas.

  • A group of Muslims pray outside Terminal 4 at John F Kennedy airport in New York City on 3 February 2017. Jummah prayer, held every Friday by Muslims, was hosted at the airport in response to Trump’s immigration ban
    A group of Muslims pray outside Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City Friday, February 3, 2017. Jummah prayer, a congregational service held every Friday by Muslims, was hosted at the airport in response to President Donald Trump’s immigration ban.

  • Migrants are given a number to wait in line to have their documents processed as asylum seekers. The Mexican authorities are in charge of filtering all the requests to avoid migrants’ attempt at entering US territory before their legal status is approved
    Migrants are given a number to wait in line in order to have their documents processed as asilum seekers. The Mexican authorities are in charge of filtering all the requests to avoid the migrants attempt at entering US territory before their legal status is approved. The migrants get a tiny bit of paper with their number and check periodically to know when they need to go back to complete the process. The vast majority are denied asylum.

  • Family members carry the caskets of two boys who were kidnapped and killed on 14 February 2017 in San Juan Sacatepéquez, Guatemala. Such crimes have driven emigration from Guatemala to the US, as families seek refuge from violence
    Family members carry the caskets of two boys who were kidnapped and killed on February 14, 2017 in San Juan Sacatepequez, Guatemala. More than 2,000 people walked in a funeral procession for Carlos Daniel Xiqin, 10, and Oscar Armando Top Cotzajay, 11, who were reported abducted walking to school Friday morning. Residents found the boys stuffed in sacks over the weekend, with the boys’ throats slashed and hands and feet bound. Neighbors reported a ransom demand was made. Such crimes have driven emigration from Guatemala to the United States, as families seek refuge from the violence

  • This seven-mile, $40m section of floating wall, nicknamed by the border patrol agents as ‘The Sand Dragon’, is designed to shift above the ever changing sands of the largest active dune field in the US
    Nicknamed by the border patrol agents as “The Sand Dragon,” this seven mile, forty million dollar section of floating wall is designed to shift above the ever changing sands of the largest active dune field in the United States.
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