Portraits Depict Life at the Border in ‘If Walls Could Speak’ at SJU Gallery

The United States-Mexico border wall has been a headline topic for the past four years. Recent reports have described how the “Remain in Mexico” policy has left Central-American asylum-seekers to wait in cruel and oftentimes dangerous conditions.

Ada Trillo, a Mexico-raised and Philadelphia-based documentary photographer, is showcasing the stories of victims of anti-immigration policies in her “If Walls Could Speak” exhibition in hopes of bridging the gap between Americans and refugees.

“With ‘If Walls Could Speak,’ I hope to keep bringing awareness to those who may have never been to the border, who may not have ever met a refugee, and to help spark a conversation where there has been too much confusion and mistrust,” Trillo says.

The portraits were shot at Casa del Migrante, a Catholic-run migrant shelter located in Trillo’s hometown of Juárez, Mexico — a city located just over the border from El Paso, Texas. Casa del Migrante provides asylum-seekers with food, shelter and healthcare, but life outside the shelter’s walls is full of unspeakable atrocities.

“I hope this series reflects some of what the families you see have been through — the unthinkable trauma some have experienced and the impossible decisions they’ve had to make. I hope that viewers here in the United States can begin to understand the odysseys many have undertaken to provide a brighter future for themselves and their children — only to be mistreated and sent back across the border to one of the most dangerous cities in North America to be a refugee,” Trillo says of her work.

Trillo pledges to send a portion of her exhibition proceeds to Casa del Migrante.

“If Walls Could Speak” will be on display in the Saint Joseph’s University Gallery in Merion Hall starting Monday, Sept. 30. A reception and opening talk with the artist and Richard Gioioso, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science and director of the Latin American and Latinx Studies program, will be held Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 11:30 am in the gallery.