some of these photos gets you emotional. do you have one particular photo or item you checked that means the most to you? you know, it all means i mean, these are deeply personal items. these are things that people brought with them, you know, in hope of restarting their american dream or coming here for the first time. so bottles of cologne, per fuchl when i came across my first bottle of cologne. i thought this was an odd thing to chooset to carry with them in their backpack. but then when i started thinking of what that bottle meant, that represented their hopes and dreams, a job interview that they were going to prepare for. i mean, it just took on a completely whole different meaning. the little things i always say. tom kiefer. you are on artist. these are beautiful photos. thank you so much. it s called the american dream, tom, thank you.
personal items belongs to these undocumented immigrants, they were in the trash. the items had been confiscated by border agents and tossed out. tom kiefer, let s pick up the story with you now and this american dream project of yours. a pleasure to have you on. can you talk to me about how you got this idea in the first place? you were essentially sneaking out the trash at your job. why did you want to check these items? what does this mean to you? well, first you after, thank you, brooke, for having me here. it s a little nervous being on tv. you got it. it wasn t as much sneaking as i started working at the station part time in 2003 and about four years into my tenure there, i was really becoming disturbed by all the food, you know the canned food that the migrants carried with them crossing the desert. that was just being thrown.
away. one day i mustered up the courage, can i please bring this food to our food bank? their compact words were bless you. there was actually a precedent for this, because the agents, themself, when i first started working there were bringing this food, diggi it out of the trash taking it to the food bank. so it wasn t like i was asking for the moon. when they gave me permission to collect food, thachls my entry point. that s when i started seeing what was thrown away. so when i would come across a bible or a rosary, it s like there was no way i was going to let those items in the trash. that s the sneaking part. i retrieved these items without their knowledge that i was doing this, but i was not going to let those items remain in the trash. tom, i hear talking about