This project draws inspiration from No Border activists’ groups, which oppose restrictive immigration policies and advocate for freedom of movement, foregrounding the personal story of an individual who experienced the dangerous journey of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border through the Sonoran Desert. Each day, people on the move risk their lives in this harsh and unforgiving landscape, facing immense physical and emotional challenges, with many tragically losing their lives. The project highlights the humanitarian crisis at the border, criticising restrictive immigration policies like the U.S.’s 1994 *Prevention Through Deterrence strategy, which intentionally exploits the dangers of the environment to deter crossings.

The project maps the distance between personal narratives of a borderscape and the policies weaponising it by juxtaposing the "Prevention Through Deterrence" protocol and a firsthand experience of crossing the desert. The sketches, complementing the testimony, provide a vivid, personal perspective on the life-threatening challenges migrants face, including violence, exploitation, and family separation. By focusing on this story, the project critiques border policies that violate fundamental human rights and problematises nationalism and capitalism’s constructs that illegal movements across borders.

The research is being presented in printed media, combining a personal narrative with fragmented, sketch-based visual storytelling that reflects the nonlinear nature of the migrant experience. Designed to resemble an official document, the publication’s format evokes the bureaucratic tone of immigration policies, using a grey card styled like a folder. This project aims to foreground the immigrant experience across the U.S.-Mexico border by exploring a personal, intimate experience. Through creative formats, it seeks to share meaningful dialogue on immigration and foster understanding across diverse audiences.