Immigration Reform: Audio-Visual Resources
May 27th, 2011
A good movie can launch a thoughtful conversation about the need for immigration reform. The following films may help you, your community and your church group in raising awareness about this important issue:
The 800 Mile Wall – This powerful 90-minute film is an unflinching look at a failed U.S. border strategy that has caused the death of thousands of migrants and violates fundamental human rights. It documents in great detail the ineffective and deadly results of a failed border policy and offers thoughts on how the current human rights crisis may be resolved.
Made in L.A. follows the remarkable story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer. Made in L.A. reveals the impact of the struggle on each woman’s life as they are gradually transformed by the experience.
Papers is the story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without proper legal status. Approximately 2 million undocumented children who were educated in American schools, hold American values, know only the U.S. as home and who, upon high school graduation, find the door to their future slammed shut.
Dying to Live explores who immigrants are, why they leave their homes and what they face in their journey. Drawing on the insights of photographers, theologians, faith and congressional leaders, activists, musicians and the immigrants themselves, this film exposes the places of conflict, pain and hope along the US-Mexico border.
9500 Liberty reveals the startling vulnerability of a local government, targeted by national anti-immigration networks using the Internet to frighten and intimidate lawmakers and citizens. The devastating social and economic impact of the “Immigration Resolution” is felt in the lives of real people in homes and in local businesses.
Farmingville – The shocking hate-based attempted murders of two Mexican day laborers catapult a small Long Island town into national headlines, unmasking a new front line in the border wars: suburbia. The film share the stories of residents, day laborers and activists on all sides of the debate.
Welcome to Shelbyville takes an intimate look at a southern town as its residents — whites and African Americans, Latinos and Somalis — grapple with their beliefs, their histories and their evolving ways of life. Welcome to Shelbyville demonstrates the unity and collective courtesy that many culturally distinct people can have for each other.
Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform also offers a study guide for a number of movies at www.faithandimmigration.org/movieguide
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