In the mid-1980s, documentary photographer Ken Light (Journalism) accompanied US border patrol agents on their nighttime shifts in the Otay Mesa, between Tijuana and San Diego. Midnight la Frontera (TBW Books, 2020) brings together Light’s stark black-and-white photos of what he observed, with text by José Ángel Navejas, author of Illegal: Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant (2014). Capturing a range of harrowing situations and strong emotions, the images are embedded in Navejas’s poetic reflection on his own experience making a similar journey.

After a brief conversation, Light and Navejas open the floor for discussion.