Matachine dancer Eddie Rivera performs in front of La Capilla de San Antonio in Alcalde, New Mexico. Los Matachines de Alcalde perform the traditional dance that is observed by both hispanic and Native American communities in northern New Mexico. Though many variations of the dance exist, they all share similar elements. It is believed that the annual tradition, normally performed in honor of feast days or Christmas, is a choreographed reenactment of the forced conversion of indigenous people to Catholicism.
A rally for then Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was held in Cuidad Juárez days before the July 1, 2018 election. Mexicans elected Lopez Obrador, who will determine the direction of a country battling drug wars, corruption and a forty percent poverty rate. Since September of 2017, over 100 politicians have been killed. “The country will be cleansed,” said Lopez Obrador.
A Mexican mother and her two children hold out their arms to show the numbers they were given to be on a list at Casa Del Migrante in Juárez, Mexico to seek political asylum in the United States on November 28, 2018. The shelter can house 280 people at a time. It was full on Wednesday when Lorena arrived. Her and her children were assigned the numbers 1173, 1174 and 1175 and written on the inside of their wrists. The list was nearing 1,100. Lorena's brother, who owned a business and refused to pay “quotas” to the cartels, was killed. Immediately after, the man responsible for his killing began threatening her and her children.
Allegra Love, an immigration-rights activist, lawyer and founder of the pro bono New Mexico Immigration-law organization the Santa Fe Dreamers Project. "What would you have to be fleeing to put your child on a freight train?... What monster would have to be chasing you? There's nothing about being Salvadoran that makes it easier. It's not easier for a Syrian to load their baby in a ships hold. When you don't objectify these people, it's too much pain to let into your heart."
A young boy climbs the border fence for fun where Anapra, Mexico and Sunland Park, New Mexico meet.
Guadalupe County Sherif Michael Lucero stands with his gun drawn during an "active shooter" drill that tested the emergency responders communication and protocols in the instance a shooter were at large at the elementary school in Vaughn, New Mexico.
The man who claims to have cut off the foot of the Spanish conquistador Don Juan de Oñate statue pictured in Alcalde, N.M. Per his story, the “foot thief” and a comrade hiked miles to the village of Alcalde and sawed the foot off the statue one wintry night in 1997 — an attempt to lambaste the celebrations of the Spanish conquest 400 years earlier by Oñate and his army.
Flames rise high in the air as a pile of non-native tree species burns near the Pecos River in efforts to clear the thicket in the area.
An inmate enters his pod where the Archbishop of Santa Fe, Michael Sheehan, blessed prisoners on Ash Wednesday at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "You couldn't come to me today in the cathedral, so I came to you," said Sheehan.
Roberto Doming stands at the top of Tomè Hill where thousands of pilgrims hike to observe Good Friday in Tomè, New Mexico.
The Pajarito Mesa located west of Albuquerque where the planned Santolina development is proposed to be built.
Fourteen-year-old amateur boxer Mariah Bahe is currently the only female boxer fighting from the Navajo Nation. Her goal is to reach the 2024 Summer Olympics. "In a way it’s easier for me to fight when I’m the underdog compared to when I’m on top, but I just focus on staying at the top."
Maria is the only one in her family who is undocumented. Because she re-entered the US after being deported, Maria isn’t eligible for any type of legal status. She, her husband, and four of their six children live in southern New Mexico. The Border Patrol maintains checkpoints on two roads that lead to the village of about 1,600 people, which makes venturing out a risky prospect for anyone who is undocumented. “It’s like the song ‘The Golden Cage,’ I have everything around me, but I can’t enjoy it because I’m here...locked up,” Maria said in Spanish. “My kids, my husband go and I stay behind, sad, here in my house.”
Beto O'Rourke kisses his wife before delivering his concession speech after being defeated by republican Senator Ted Cruz in the high contentious midterm election for a Texas senate seat. O'Rourke is one of the most popular democrats to run in Texas in years as a senate seat hasn't been held by a democrat since 1988. The midterm voter turnout was the highest it's been in decades with 53% of registered voters casting ballots.
Lobbyist Vanessa Alarid was approached with a quid pro quo or a "this for that" offer by a New Mexico State lawmaker to exchange sex for his vote. Alarid is one of many women coming forward in the "Me Too Movement" about the instances of sexual harassment within state houses.
Juárez, Mexico
Debra Trujillo stares at the destruction to her ex-husband's home where emergency responders found Gene Garcia asleep on his couch while the home was still in flames. A chimney fire spread to the roof and neighboring rooms causing the roof to collapse moments before he was rescued.
Angelica of Michoacán waits at the El Paso del Norte Port of Entry at the international boundary line to cross into the United States to seek asylum for her and her grandchild on June 20, 2018. they along with a family of five were assisted by the Annunciation House, a migrant aid agency that runs a shelter in El Paso, Texas, on June 20, 2018.
An inmate stares out of his cell while on lockdown as judges evaluate the inmates' pod decorations for an annual Christmas decorating contest at the Guadalupe County Corrections Facility.
Deborah Holden was stabbed in her abdomen by a drunken and mentally ill neighbor, Benjamin Vigil, on the night of July 25, 2005. Holden's small intestine was pierced causing fecal mater to flow into her blood stream sending her to nearly fatal sepsis. Holden was not expected to live. Seventeen surgeries and eight years later, Holden looks at her stomach in the mirror admiring the work of the surgeons who she refers to as her "angels." In November 2006, Vigil was committed to the New Mexico Behavioral Institute in Las Vegas, New Mexico after being declared as incompetent and a danger to society.
Haylee Carter kisses her daughter, Sophie Patterson, as she drops her off at her daycare class. Carter is a part time employee at the Hagy Center for Young Children and is a student at Amarillo College studying early childhood education. The daycare facility gives a break to students with children to make it affordable for families who are pursuing higher education.
Three year old Ruth Sofia holds her grandmother's hand as they wait at the international boundary line on the Paso Del Norte International Bridge between Juárez and El Paso as they seek asylum in the United States on June 18, 2018.