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The Rio Grande Valley – often simply called “The Valley” or "El Valle" – extends approximately 100 miles inland from the Gulf Coast. It stretches along the Mexican border from El Paso in the northwest down to the southernmost tip of Texas. The border river flows into the Gulf of Mexico east of the city of Brownsville, TX.

The total length of the US border with Mexico is approximately 1,988 miles, of which approximately 702 miles are protected by border security. The longest secured border installations are located between El Paso/TX and Ciudad Juárez. Along the Texas border, where the Rio Grande forms a natural barrier, a nearly 13-foot-high border fence was built to keep people and vehicles out.

This border fence with Mexico runs parallel to the Rio Grande, just under a mile from the geographical state border on American soil. To straighten the border fence and save on construction materials, the government purchased overhanging parcels from landowners and compensated them poorly. Consequently, the border fence runs partially through the properties and gardens of the people living there. As a consequence, many newly built single-family homes in the border region are up for sale. Other property owners have erected additional fences and acquired guard dogs.

The impressions I gained from driving along Highway 281 (called “Military Highway”) and farther along the Rio Grande on Highway 83 as well as the people I met there are presented in this series. The images and impressions, of course, do not allow for any general statement on the issue of migration, but rather shed light on the associated consequences, which, in my opinion, everyone down there—regardless of political persuasion—would rather have resolved sooner than later.