A portrait of the Migrant Caravan and the Maya of the Guatemalan Highlands.

In 2018, documentary photographer Cory Zimmerman first encountered the migrant caravans as they arrived at a makeshift migrant camp set up on a soccer field in the heart of Mexico City.

Between a Sword & a Wall is both a visual record and a personal reflection on that journey, which took Zimmerman north to the US border, but south, following the trail to the origin: Central America, and the highlands of Guatemala.

Central America’s Northern Triangle—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—is among the deadliest regions on earth. Since the 1980s, 85% of Central American immigrants arriving at the US southern border have come from this area. The region is plagued by violent conflicts, systemic corruption, economic disparities, and environmental crises, all of which have fueled massive migration north, particularly since late 2018, as asylum requests skyrocketed. People flee not just violence—personal and direct—but also extreme poverty and starvation, driven by political instability and climate change. US asylum officers’ credible fear screenings found that 82% of women from the Northern Triangle had “a significant possibility of establishing eligibility for asylum or protection under the UN Convention Against Torture Act.” At least half of migrants are asylum-seeking refugees, many unaccompanied minors. The UN estimates over 1.7 million internally displaced people in the region, with thousands more embarking on dangerous journeys north each year, escaping gangs, cartels, and state fragility.

Produced by COR ZIM FOTO

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