There are many documentaries that do a great job in exposing American ignorance on immigration. "Documented" is one of the great documentaries that exposes the ignorance that underlies the anti-immigration attitudes that so many Americans hold. This documentary is especially relevant as a second bout of immigration reform is struggling through the legislative process. The tech industry is fiercely lobbying to increase the number of high-skilled immigrant visas.
The film presents a lot of memorable, real depictions of the importance of immigration for our country. The turning point for a lot of anti-immigrant Americans was when they were presented with the inescapable difficulties of living life as the child of undocumented immigrants. The film focuses on one individual, Vargas, but his struggle to gain citizenship is fairly representative of the entire population of the undocumented. To many Americans surprise, Vargas was driven and intelligent and was fully capable of working the jobs that American could. Finally, Vargas was sick of living in fear and came out as undocumented and became an immigration reform activist.
Vargas has been harassed at campaigns by Anti-immigration attendees but that doesn't seem to phase him. Vargas continues to push for immigration reform; trying to show that there is no feasible pathway for citizenship for the majority of immigrants. Vargas has tugged on many heart strings, but there are still existing global issues that stand in the way of immigration reform. Vargas must prove that the American economy is served by letting in immigrants.
The struggle remains in the battle between the economic and morality debate. Congress seems to have a hard time siding with morality in this reform. Vargas capped off his screening of the film with a Martin Luther King quote: "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people"
Education is key in resolving the attitudes of ignorant Americans.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/06/review-documented-exposes-the-ignorance-behind-anti-immigrant-attitudes/
Immigration documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBqBRPZd5Pc
