Inside detention. (Report).

Outside cameras are rarely if ever allowed inside where most INS detainees are held. My entrance required lengthy, repeated, and often futile negotiation with the INS or county jails, and occasionally both bureaucratic layers at the same time. Where permitted, access was typically restricted to a small room in the facility normally used for attorney client meetings, with white walls, a desk, and two chairs. Working under these restrictions presented many challenges, not the least of which was the difficulty posed by "documenting" detainees in this de-contextualized environment. On occasion, the short leash could be stretched a little, allowing a slightly expanded view of detainee life beyond the interview room. But the leash was always on. While the difficulties and frustrations faced in gaining access to INS facilities with a camera were many, the testimonies encountered once inside repeatedly revealed that no matter how difficult it was for me to get inside, it was always more difficult for detainees to get out. As a photojournalist I felt a deep commitment to harness photography's power in drawing public attention to this story.

While the post-9/11 dragnet drew media attention to INS practices, coverage of the entire detained population and its treatment was largely ignored. Here too, precise numbers are notoriously difficult to come by. It is estimated that the INS detains somewhere between 200,000 to 250,000 immigrants per year in approximately 400 jails across the country, often with minimal public awareness or oversight. Put into the proper context, the treatment and secrecy surrounding 9/11 detainees can be seen less as an aberration, less an exception to the rule of due process, and more as an extreme version of questionable detention practices operating throughout the country.

Detained men, women, and children like those photographed here need representation--through legal means, and through documentary. Sequestered in jails, they lose their voices, their rights, and their hopes. These images, part of a larger exhibition of photos taken from 2001-2002, begin to put a face on their staggeringly large numbers and aim to make their situation less deniable and more real.

RELATED ARTICLE: Iraqi detainee, INS Detention Facility, Seattle, ...