Just under 60,000 undocumented migrants were deposited in Tijuana, Mexico, from the US last year. Guardian photographerFelix Clay has been to Tijuana to document the deportees, soup kitchens and the homes of those who had built a life in America
Juan, 37, and his dog. He was deported from the US six years ago having lived in LA since he was 9 years old. He has a wife and two children who still live in LA and who cross the border regularly to visit him.The Desayunador Salesiano (Salesian breakfast) soup kitchen, named after the late founder, Padre Chava, in Tijuana.The soup kitchen serves around 1500 meals a day, from 8:30 am until 12:30 pm, to the homeless and those unable to afford to pay for food.There are also showers, barbers and a medical consultant within the centre. Many people who go to the centre are migrants and deportees from the US.It’s estimated that around 4,000 people, many of them deportees from the US, live in this area, a stretch known as ‘El Bordo’ or ‘the border’, sandwiched along the U.S.-Mexico border. It sits inside Mexico, just outside the city limits of Tijuana.Rubbish surrounds the area, deposited by sewage that runs through the nearby Tijuana River channel. The fence separating the United States and Mexico sits yards away from holes in the ground with shallow inter-connecting tunnels and makeshift tents where people live.Sergio Avinia, 42, digging his home out of the dirt in El Bordo. He lived in the US for 17 years and was deported in 2012. His wife and two children remain in San Diego.Samuel Cabrera, 39, is a self-confessed meth addict. He was deported from the US in 2000 and now lives in El Bordo, Tijuana. He sells tin cans and other refuse to make a living.This is Casa del Migrantes, a shelter for migrants and deportees, in Tijuana.New arrivals at Casa del Migrantes.Running out into the sea this is the border fence that divides Mexico from the United States. It follows the edge of the city of Tijuana, which is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula.
Estudios Fronterizos 