Labor & Employment Law

Film ?Entre Nos? Shows Human Side of Immigration Debate

By James Parks

The most innocent victims of our nation?s broken immigration system are children. In 2008, four million U.S.-born citizen children had at least one undocumented parent. Each of those 4 million American children worry every day that one of their parents might not be home when they return from school.

Children like 11-year-old Heidi Ruby Portugal who told reporters and members of Congress last month that before her mother?s detention, she admired ?all uniformed people that protect our country.?

It?s a pity that those thoughts are gone thanks to all those mistreatments and the arrests….They took away the most precious thing that children have, our mother. With one hit they took away my smile and my happiness.

A powerful and inspirational new film, ?Entre Nos? (?Among Us?), tells the true story about an immigrant mother who is devoted to keeping her family together and making a better life for them. The film was written and directed by actress/director Paola Mendoza (see video above).

You can receive a free copy of the film by clicking here. The group distributing the film, Moms for Family Unity, urges you to host a screening of the film for your family, friends, neighbors, congregation members and anyone else who is interested in a humane approach to immigration reform and keeping families together.

Moms for Family Unity is a partnership among America?s Voice, the Center for American Progress, Reform Immigration for America, IndiePix Studios and the filmmakers of ?Entre Nos.?

An Urban Institute report released in February explains the human tragedy that follows the breakup of undocumented families. The study found the vast majority of children whose parents were detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the workplace and in the home showed multiple behavioral changes, including anxiety, frequent crying, changes in eating and sleeping patterns, withdrawal and anger. Disturbingly, the children also experienced dramatic increases in housing instability and hunger.    

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka points out that comprehensive immigration reform is crucial to the future of the U.S. economy. The union movement has endorsed a five-point plan for immigration reform. Trumka adds that we as a people will be judged by how we treat immigrants?whether we allow the American Dream to be shared by all or by just a privileged few.

My message to working people is that we all are bound together by our lives as workers, our dreams for our families, and our hopes for this country’s future. The labor movement stands for giving all workers in America the right to dream the American Dream. 

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on August 03, 2010 (boomark / email).