Between May 2025 and March of this year, I photographed Robinson Gonzalez, a Venezuelan professional skateboarder in his mid-twenties.
Three years before I started this work, Gonzalez crossed the Darién Gap, having left his family behind. He was later granted entry into the United States as an asylum-seeker. Back in 2018, during anti-government protests in Caracas, an explosive device had nearly severed his left hand. His political involvement had made his home country unsafe for him.
After settling in San Antonio in October 2024, he got sponsored by an American skate brand, found work as a food delivery driver, and taught skateboarding to local youth.
Most of these photographs depict him alone, as he struggled to build a life in a new country without a support network. The images depict the emotional cost of migration: missed birthdays, funerals, and everyday moments with loved ones left behind. Routine tasks became major challenges, from healthcare to banking, from finding housing to seeking police help when his car was stolen more than once.
As immigration discourse is increasingly distorted by enforcement and fear, this project focuses on the quiet fight for stability, dignity, and belonging. These 11 months of Gonzalez’s life are a microcosm of the immigrant experience—of resilience in the face of a contradictory system that welcomes your labor but not your full presence.
(Top) Last June, Gonzalez shows videos from his journey to the United States. (Bottom-left and -right) Gonzalez on one of his daily calls to his mother and siblings in Venezuela
(Top left) Gonzalez makes another DoorDash delivery. (Bottom left) Gonzalez skating at Lady Bird Johnson Park in San Antonio, then driving back home from skating in Pearsall (Top center) Last November, Gonzalez has just moved into a San Antonio apartment previously occupied by two immigrants from Mexico and Honduras who were deported. (Top-right) Gonzalez flicks leaves from a flower. (Bottom-right) Gonzalez teaches skateboarding to local kids.
(Left) Gonzalez skates at Hays Bridge Skate Park in San Antonio. (Right) Gonzalez makes a DoorDash delivery downtown. (Bottom) Gonzalez takes a break from skating in Pearsall.
In late May, Gonzalez was stopped for a traffic violation and booked into jail, where he is subject to an ICE hold. He plans to fight to stay in the country; I have started a GoFundMe to help with his legal costs.
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