At night, there is a line across Dilley, Texas. Imperceptible to the human eye, it is easy to see with the long exposures of a camera. It is the lights from the largest detention center in the United States housing women and children seeking asylum. The center is situated in a gully, surrounded by mesquite groves. Its lights create a distinct line across the entire town. There are entire towns revived and thriving on the economy of detaining families seeking political asylum. Incarceration of these individuals is not mandatory according to US policy and international law. Restore the Night Sky highlights the impact on the rural landscapes at each of the United States forty-five privately operated ICE detention centers.

45,000 people on average are in ICE detention centers across the US each day, mainly housed in 45 private detention centers. Most have been built in the past fifteen years utilizing the latest in LED commercial lights. These lights resonate across the landscape for miles. These detention centers have become the heart of rural towns. The remote locations hide these prisons in plain sight/site. They provide a twisted economic boom, closely tied to the government, politics, and asylum policies. In Lumpkin, GA, home to one of the largest detention centers in the country, twenty percent of the town’s budget comes from ICE contracts with the detention center. The detention center fills beds each night, incentivized by the town's profit of $.85 per bed per day.

Restore the Night Sky uses the distinctive light pollution of the new high- power LED lights from these centers as a metaphor for their invasive and complicated place in rural America. The project aims to expose the treatment of asylum seekers within the US, raise awareness of our restrictive policies towards immigrants, and put an end to the unnecessary detention of these individuals.

40" x 30" archival inkjet prints framed