Forced to Flee But Not Allowed to Enter

Forced to Flee But Not Allowed to Enter was inspired by the movie Who is Dayani Cristal? The movie is based on the real-life struggles of Yohan, a young Honduran husband and father of three, attempting to immigrate to the United States. Among his motivations, Yohan wanted work here to settle debts accrued by a family member battling leukemia, but instead died on the final leg of the long journey in the Arizona desert.

People from south of our border, as with all those forced to flee around the world, often do not have safety, jobs, or places for their families. This piece focuses on the border terror and challenge which often face those trying to enter a foreign country for asylum or to start a better life. The soldiers in the piece represent soldiers or border guards stridently, and often viciously, trying to stop people from exiting or entering; while the immigrants struggle to get over the border. The forest represents the border’s often impenetrable, but always difficult, barriers for those forced to flee.