The Story Remains the Same

For the past 40 years, I have documented migration stories that speak of the dreams, nightmares, successes and failures for millions of people seeking a new life in the United States.

My life’s work has been a long-range documentary project that has made me an eyewitness to one of the greatest migrations in human history, a story that stretches from Central America to our border in San Diego and onward into America. It’s been the result of an exhausting amount of research, physical strength and an unwavering belief that I’m still recording history in the making

Some of my late 1970s work was done while I was a photojournalist on the staff of The San Diego Union (now the Union-Tribune). Between 1984 and my retirement in 2015, I authored hundreds of photo essays while on the staff of the Los Angeles Times. I also assigned myself thousands of hours of independent work as history was also unfolding not far from my North County home.

When the Central American caravan reached Tijuana last month, I felt compelled to continue telling the migration story. But the latest surge of a thousand people running towards the San Ysidro Port of Entry from Tijuana on Nov. 25 was unlike anything I had witnessed in the past. It also felt like a breaking news story that had already happened.

https://go.sandiegouniontribune.com/bartletti-border/p/1