The Land of Open Graves:
Raising Awareness about Migrant Life and Death along the US/Mexico Border

Foley Institute Lecture with
HT94 Curator & Anthropologist Jason De León
Thursday, March 2, 12:00-1:00 p.m.
In Person: Foley Speaker’s Room, 308 Bryan Hall
Livestreamed via Foley Institute YouTube Channel

Join us for a Lecture with UCLA anthropologist Jason De León!

On Thursday, March 2nd at 12:00pm, anthropologist Jason De León will offer a lecture through the Foley Institute titled “The Land of Open Graves: Raising Awareness about Migrant Life and Death along the US/Mexico Border.” Since the mid-1990s, the U.S. federal government has relied on a border enforcement strategy known as “Prevention Through Deterrence.” Using various security infrastructure and techniques of surveillance, this strategy funnels undocumented migrants towards remote and rugged terrain such as the Sonoran Desert of Arizona with the hope that mountain ranges, extreme temperatures, and other “natural” obstacles will deter people from unauthorized entry. Since the 1990’s, thousands of people have died as a result of this policy. In this talk De León will discuss the politics of migrant death in Arizona, describe the ongoing global exhibition Hostile Terrain 94 (HT94) that seeks to raise awareness about this issue, and highlight the new collaboration between the Undocumented Migration Project and the Colibrí Center for Human Rights. Hostile Terrain 94 is on view at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU from January 17-March 11, 2023.

Jason De León is Executive Director of the Undocumented Migration Project and the Colibrí Center for Human Rights, a 501(c)(3) research, arts, and education collective focused on raising awareness about issues related to migration and assisting families of missing migrants. De León is also Professor of Anthropology and Chicana, Chicano, and Central American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of the award-winning book The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail and a 2017 MacArthur Fellow.