Victoria Razo

Hundreds of migrants crosses the river from Del Rio, Texas, to Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, to buy food and supplies before returning to the U.S. On September 20, 2021. In mid-September, approximately 15,000 migrants converged under a bridge at the U.S.-Mexico border, in Del Rio. Many were Haitians who had left Haiti for countries in Latin America years ago. ©Victoria Razo

July’s featured photographer is Victoria Razo

Victoria Razo is a freelance photographer based between Mexico City and Veracruz in Mexico. Her work focuses on Human Rights, gender, migration, and environmental stories.

Razo is a “Hostile Environment and First Aid Training” (HEFAT) certified photojournalists, who often contributes to National Geographic, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg and Cuartoscuro Agency.

In 2021, one of her images was selected as National Geographic’s Photo of the Year. She has received numerous awards, including the 2022 Picture of the Year, 2021 Picture of the Year LatAm, and 2018 + 2020-1 CEAPP Veracruz Research Journalism Award. In 2018, one of her images was selected as TIME’s 100 Photos of the Year. In 2017, as part of the collective “Periodistas de a Pie”, she received the Gabriel García Márquez Award for the project “Buscadores en un país de desaparecidos.”

Her images have been published in numerous news outlets, including National Geographic, The New York Times, NPR, TIME, The Washignton Post, L.A. Times, Bloomberg, Vogue, and others.     

Member of Women Photograph, Diversify Photo and Frontline Freelance Mexico.

Haitian Migration Crisis

More than 15,000 migrants, most of them Haitians, swarmed the Del Rio, Texas border during September in a highly visible attempt to enter the United States. But authorities quickly used drastic measures to expel the vast majority of them using a public health statute that immigrant rights groups say violates U.S. and international law. More than 11,000 migrants were returned to Haiti since mid-September, according to the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an immigration advocacy group.

The fast-tracked deportations were carried out on more than 100 Haiti-bound planes chartered by the U.S. government using the controversial law known as Title 42 as the legal premise. Invoked by former president Donald Trump to deport and detain migrants at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become the policy of choice for the Biden administration as well to try to stem the flow of the continuing migration surge at the southern border. Thousands of them, like the Dorjean Desmornes family, were already installed in the various border cities of Mexico, with the firm intention of penetrating the wall.

For this family, the prospect of a better future in the United States came up against a wall of uncertainty and disappointment. Originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, they arrived in Tijuana where they lived for two years until they made the decision to cross the wall in search of a better life in the United States. Rose Desmornes 26, JeanKely Dorjean, 35, and her daughter, Rocentia, 10, entered Arizona without documents and embarked on a journey to West Palm Beach to welcome the birth of their second child, Broyenst, and join their families in a house that would become their temporary home before moving on to their next destination in Newark, New Jersey.

What is happening in the U.S. and Mexico is only part of the alarming situation in other borders of the American continent due to the massive arrival of Haitian migrants, according to a survey conducted by the UN agency, more than 91,300 migrants, crossed from Colombia through the dangerous jungle of the Darien Gap into Panama in the hope of reaching the United States, Canada or Mexico, according to the Central American country’s National Migration Service. The figure for the first nine months triples the previous record of 30,000 people on the same route during all of 2016.

A Haitian man crosses the Rio Grande from Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, to Del Rio, Texas, returning to the U.S. side of the border. On September 19, 2021. In mid-September, approximately 15,000 migrants converged under a bridge at the U.S.-Mexico border, in Del Rio. Many were Haitians who had left Haiti for countries in Latin America years ago. ©Victoria Razo
Dozens of Haitian families set up a new makeshift camp in a sports center in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, due to the deportations that occurred on the U.S. side of the border. On September, 23, 2021. In mid-September, approximately 15,000 migrants converged at the U.S.-Mexico border. Many were Haitians who had left Haiti for countries in Latin America years ago. ©Victoria Razo
A United States Border Patrol agent on horseback tries to force Haitians migrants back across the river into Mexico, into Del Rio, Texas, United States. On September 19, 2021. In mid-September, approximately 15,000 migrants converged under a bridge at the U.S.-Mexico border, in Del Rio. Many were Haitians who had left Haiti for countries in Latin America years ago. After this images, U.S. The Border Patrol put the agents on administrative duties and temporarily halted horse patrols along the river. ©Victoria Razo
The bridge to cross between Mexico and the United States remained closed for several days due to the fact that In mid-September, approximately 15,000 migrants converged under this bridge. Many were Haitians who had left Haiti for countries in Latin America years ago. On September 24, 2021. In Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico. ©Victoria Razo
Haitian families set up a new makeshift camp in a sports center in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico, due to the deportations that occurred on the U.S. side of the border. On September, 22, 2021. In mid-September, approximately 15,000 migrants converged at the U.S.-Mexico border. Many were Haitians who had left Haiti for countries in Latin America years. ©Victoria Razo
Rocentia Dorjean, 10, watches videos on her cell phone to entertain herself in the room where she lives with her parents. Rocentia arrived in Mexico from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on October 17, after being separated from her parents for four years, who migrated to seek a better quality of life. In Tijuana, Mexico. October 22, 2021
A National Guard officer, accompanied by a dog named Paloma, guards the site where the border fence ends at the place known as “Nido de las Aguilas”, a popular neighborhood where most undocumented migrants try to cross, in Tijuana, Mexico. October 22, 2021. ©Victoria Razo
Broyenst Dorjean, sleeping in a baby carrier inside the house where his family is temporarily living in West Palm Beach, Florida, on November 28, 2021. Broyenst was born on November 19 at 4:00 a.m. in the United States. A few days earlier, his parents crossed the Mexicali-Arizona border illegally with the dream of having a better life in the United States. ©Victoria Razo
Rose Desmornes, 26, Haitian migrant, aboard on a bus to return with her family to her new temporary home in Newark, New Jersey, on December 03, 2021. ©Victoria Razo
The arm of Jeankely Dorjean, a Haitian migrant, has a tattoo of the national coat of arms off the Republic of Haiti. In West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. On November 30, 2021. Originally from Puert-au-Prince, Dorjean the tens of thousands of Haitians who fled to various countries across South America in search of work in the years following the devastating 2010 earthquake, subsequently managed to enter the United States undocumented. ©Victoria Razo
Rose Desmornes, 26, a Haitian migrant, walks with her family in the new neighborhood where she arrived in search of work, home and to regularize her immigration documents in Newark, New Jersey, on December 03, 2021. ©Victoria Razo

To see more of Victoria’s work, here

La fotógrafa del mes de julio es Victoria Razo

Victoria Razo es una fotógrafa independiente que trabaja entre la Ciudad de México y Veracruz, en México. Su trabajo se centra en los Derechos Humanos, temas de género, la migración e historias medioambientales.

Razo es una fotoperiodista certificada en “Hostile Environment and First Aid Training” (HEFAT), que a menudo colabora con National Geographic, Agence France-Presse, Bloomberg y la Agencia Cuartoscuro.

En 2021, una de sus imágenes fue seleccionada como parte de las fotografías del año de National Geographic. Ha recibido numerosos premios, entre los que se encuentran el 2022 Picture of the Year, 2021 Picture of the Year LatAm, y 2018 + 2020 + 2021 CEAPP Premio de Periodismo de Investigación. En 2018, una de sus imágenes fue seleccionada como las 100 fotos del año de TIME. En 2017, como parte del colectivo “Periodistas de a Pie”, recibió el Premio Gabriel García Márquez por el proyecto “Buscadores en un país de desaparecidos.”

Sus imágenes se han publicado en numerosos medios de comunicación, como National Geographic, The New York Times, NPR, TIME, The Washignton Post, L.A. Times, Bloomberg, Vogue, entre otros.                  

Es miembro de Women Photograph, Diversify Photo y Frontline Freelance México.

Crisis Migratoria de Haití

Mas de 15.000 migrantes, la mayoría de ellos haitianos, se aglomeraron en la frontera de Del Río, Texas, durante el mes de septiembre del 2021 en un intento muy visible de entrar en Estados Unidos. Pero las autoridades no tardaron en utilizar medidas drásticas para expulsar a la gran mayoría de ellos utilizando un estatuto de salud pública que según los grupos de defensa de los derechos de los inmigrantes, viola el derecho estadounidense e internacional. Más de 11.000 migrantes fueron devueltos a Haití desde mediados de septiembre, según la Alianza Puente Haitiano, un grupo de defensa de la inmigración.

Las deportaciones aceleradas se llevaron a cabo en más de 100 aviones con destino a Haití, fletados por el gobierno de Estados Unidos utilizando como premisa legal la controvertida ley conocida como Título 42. Invocada por el ex presidente Donald Trump para deportar y detener a los migrantes al inicio de la pandemia del COVID-19, se ha convertido en la política elegida también por la administración Biden para intentar frenar el flujo de la continua oleada migratoria en la frontera sur. Miles de ellos, como la familia Dorjean Desmornes, se instalaron ya en las distintas ciudades fronterizas de México, con la firme intención de atravesar el muro.

Para esta familia, la perspectiva de un futuro mejor en Estados Unidos se topó con un muro de incertidumbre y decepción. Originarios de Puerto Príncipe, llegaron a Tijuana, donde vivieron dos años hasta que tomaron la decisión de cruzar el muro en busca de una vida mejor en Estados Unidos. Rose Desmornes, de 26 años, JeanKely Dorjean, de 35, y su hija, Rocentia, de 10, entraron en Arizona sin documentos y emprendieron un viaje a West Palm Beach para recibir el nacimiento de su segundo hijo, Broyenst, y reunirse con sus familias en una casa que se convertiría en su hogar temporal antes de trasladarse a su siguiente destino en Newark, Nueva Jersey.

Lo que ocurre en Estados Unidos y México es solo una parte de la alarmante situación que se vive en otras fronteras del continente americano por la llegada masiva de migrantes haitianos, según un estudio realizado por la agencia de la ONU, más de 91.300 migrantes, cruzaron desde Colombia por la peligrosa selva del Tapón del Darién hacia Panamá con la esperanza de llegar a Estados Unidos, Canadá o México, según el Servicio Nacional de Migración del país centroamericano. La cifra de los primeros nueve meses triplica el récord anterior de 30.000 personas en la misma ruta durante todo 2016.

Para ver más de los trabajos de Victoria, aquí