US: Janitor creates art exhibit out of confiscated belongings from migrants

Tom Kiefer went through the trash to collect items seized from migrants and asylum seekers

Last updated: December 11, 2019 | 16:47

2 MIN READ

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While a janitor at a US Customs and Border Protection facility in Arizona, Tom Kiefer went through the trash to collect items seized from migrants and asylum seekers.

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Curator Laura Mart stands beside a photo called 'Trail Markers' showing rubber ducks that were confiscated from migrants who used them to indicate routes through the desert as they walked from Mexico to the U.S. at the exhibition

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Dominga Rodriquez uses her phone to take a close up of a photo of a love letter at the exhibition

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People visit the exhibition 'Sueno Americano / The American Dream: Photographs by Tom Kiefer' at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles

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A visitor looks at a photo of cell phones confiscated from migrants at the exhibition

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People visit the 'The American Dream' exhibition in Los Angeles.

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A photograph of pain medications confiscated from migrants called 'Pain Relief' is on display at the exhibition

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Dominga Rodriquez, 48, originally from Mexico, visits the exhibition "Sueno Americano / The American Dream: Photographs by Tom Kiefer" at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, on December 10, 2019. While working as a janitor at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Arizona, Kiefer went through the trash to collect thousands of items seized by border agents from migrants and asylum seekers trekking across the desert in an attempt to enter the U.S. via the U.S.-Mexico border. - RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION / AFP / Robyn Beck / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION

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People visit the 'The American Dream' exhibition in Los Angeles.

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The entrance to the exhibition 'Sueno Americano / The American Dream: Photographs by Tom Kiefer' at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles

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People visit the exhibition 'Sueno Americano / The American Dream: Photographs by Tom Kiefer' at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles

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People visit the exhibition 'Sueno Americano / The American Dream: Photographs by Tom Kiefer' at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles

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