The mini documentary series that can currently be seen on Netflix is one of the best documentaries of this year.
Immigration Nation , directed by Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz is a must-see documentary. It is necessary that it spreads, to have a clearer vision about the problem of the immigration in the American country, with a system designed to destroy families.
The documentary is hard to watch. Each episode is a blow to our sensitivity. If you're a very sentimental person, you'd better find another documentary. If you accept that each episode will make you think, ask yourself questions like, What the hell is going on with our world? Do these people have no feelings? Is the world dominated by evil? The stories of all the immigrants we see during the six episodes of the documentary are heartbreaking, painful, full of injustice and many in the longed-for happy ending. Because this is the real world, where there is no room for Disney-style endings. No, sir.
A nation that has been built on fear, as Michael Moore explained in one of his excellent documentaries. Instilling fear in its population, blaming the foreigner for all evils. That's why they keep using fear as an excuse to protect the population from the crime that comes from illegal immigrants.
Incredible as it may seem, we will witness several cases of people who served in the military, risked their lives for that country and were deported or are in danger of being detained and expelled because of the new orders that the current government has issued. If this is how they behave against people who served their nation, this seems to me to be crazy.
Another story shown in the documentary is that of a lady from El Salvador who requested asylum and was locked up for more than a year in an immigration detention centre. After being locked up for so long, she was deported to her country, even though the members of the Maras have her on a list to kill her, since she fled El Salvador to save her granddaughter, because a member of the gang wanted to make her his wife, when the girl was only twelve years old.
It is important to note that the detention centers are run by private subcontractors, turning everything into a simple business. The illegal detainee becomes a commodity, a product to generate profits for the companies they control. They are designed to be temporary detention centres, not for detainees to spend months or years inside them. But rich businessmen, friends in high politics, only care about money.
So do powerful men who occupy positions within the state's political apparatus and who own maintenance, construction and repair companies. They hire illegal labor, when the work is done, they don't get paid and they threaten to report them to immigration so that they can be arrested and deported.
Watching the documentary has depressed me a little. I didn't think it would affect me, but as a Latin American, seeing that pile of injustices committed against people with whom I share the same skin color, the same language and very similar cultures, has touched my sensibility.
As a Latin American, I understand the suffering that these people are experiencing in their home countries, the economic and political problems, the crime, the hunger, all of which have forced them to emigrate and enter this northern country illegally. Without imagining that if they are arrested, they will live through another hell. Moreover, the danger of death is always present in the desert they have to cross in order to get across the border.
And at the borders are the criminal organizations that control human trafficking, which charge large amounts of money to get the illegals through. What hope do we have as a human race when we act as scavengers?
But the most unpleasant parts of the documentary are the ICE operations in the search and capture of illegals. The camera follows their actions and we hear the agents' testimonies of doing that job. We see how they enjoy separating families, no matter how much pain they cause, with the excuse that they are just following orders.
But the worst thing is to see them making fun of the illegals arrested, and showing that attitude of a neighborhood bully, supported by the highest representatives of their government. They are simple thugs, brave when they have power in their hands. These types of cowards are everywhere, hiding behind the benefits that power gives them momentarily, and they destroy with their thuggish attitudes.
Perhaps the documentary will serve as a product of deterrence. I have never been attracted to going to that country illegally, nor is it in my plans. I would rather survive in my own land than go and live another hellhole in a nation where I am not wanted. But that's me. I understand and respect the decision of those who want to risk going as illegals. For me, even if the desire to go on vacation is lost, I will not leave my money to a country that despises me and my people.
It is difficult to see, because of the raw and painful story covered in the six episodes, but it is important to see it, to spread it, to comment on it and to discuss it. I highly recommend it.
My Ranking: 4.5/5
Trailer
