(dramatic music)
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(light instrumental music)
("Amazing Grace")
- [Namrata] The United States of America,
one of the richest countries in the world.
California, one of the richest states in America.
(semi truck honking)
Los Angeles, one of the richest cities in California.
And in the City of Angels, spanning east to west,
from the studios in Burbank,
through the shopping in Beverly Hills,
to the estates in Bel Air,
lies the heart of Hollywood.
In this area is some of the most expensive real estate
in the world.
And down the street live Jonathan and Mandy.
Their home today is a sidewalk
by the Veterans Administration in Los Angeles.
Jonathan is an ex-marine, a veteran of the Iraq War.
He and his wife are two of the thousands
of homeless veterans in America today.
They're also a part
of over half a million homeless Americans
in the wealthiest nation in the world,
the United States of America.
(gun firing) (light music)
- [Jonathan] My name is Jonathan DeCoster.
(soldiers chattering)
I was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Kentucky is a beautiful,
it's a beautiful place, I'll say that.
You get all four seasons in one week.
My dad's name was Charles DeCoster.
He was my best friend.
- Your brother was deployed at that time, right?
Or was he...
You guys were deployed at the same time.
- I think my brother was deployed.
I think he was on a ship at that time.
But when I was in Iraq, my brother was also there.
My family is super religious.
You know, gung-ho Jesus, so to speak. (chuckles)
I grew up in a Pentecostal church
where it was constant hell, fire, and damnation.
So, every night when I went to bed,
I was concerned about dying and burning in hell
for the rest of eternity.
- My mother said, "You know what?
Your father pray more than I pray.
Your father know about the Catholic Church
more than I know."
I'm from Mexico, from Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.
Puerto Vallarta is beautiful.
It's a beach.
It's nice.
It's, I don't know, how do you turismo?
Turi- - Tourism.
(soft music)
My family is big.
My father and my mom, they had 15 kids.
When I was in Puerto Vallarta, before I come here,
I always had fun with my friends.
I had a lot of friends.
And I loved to go to the beach, to go to the rivers,
to play volleyball, to play soccer,
and to be sitting my father in the potrero.
The potrero is the farm
that he had the cows, the horses.
I don't know how I say in English, ordenar?
To get the milk from the cow?
Cow?
Yeah.
I loved to do that with my father, yes.
When I was a child, before I come here,
it's the most happy that one person could have.
When I was a little girl, I think since I was born,
does not matter I was poor.
I was having my father.
I was having my mom, my sisters, my brothers.
I was very, very happy.
- Dominic was born in Germany 1982
in the same hospital I was born in,
and he grew up around my parents.
We lived in the same small town,
and he went to the German kindergarten
and he was loved by everybody.
He was just that little German chocolate sunshine.
When he turned 10, we moved to the United States.
Life on Waterfall Circle was idyllic almost.
You know, every race, every color was living there.
Dominic attended Vista Heights Middle School,
and then went on to Canyon Springs High School.
Dominic was just an all-American kid.
(intriguing music)
- [Namrata] In 2019, I have to fly to India.
We have to pick up some shots for "Finding Match,"
a film I'm directing on organ and bone marrow transplants
in ethnically diverse communities.
The trip is short, but I'm very excited.
I always jump at the opportunity to go to India,
the land of my ancestors,
where I get to re-embrace the spirituality
and mysticism of India, every time I visit.
(bell clanking)
But at heart, I'm a homebody,
a proud American, a patriotic citizen,
and a fervent Democrat.
I mention my political affiliation
because it's crucial to why this film got made.
I keep abreast of American politics
no matter what part of the world I'm in.
And tonight is the first Democratic debate.
And then comes a question
that is about to change my world view.
- Today, it broke our hearts.
And they had names, Oscar Martinez,
and his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, died,
trying to cross the river to ask for asylum in this country.
- Watching that image of Oscar
and his daughter, Valeria, is heartbreaking.
It should also piss us all off.
If I were President today- (audience applauding)
- [Namrata] Piss me off?
Yes, it does, immensely.
After all, we're a nation founded on immigration, right?
- Unless you're one of the first Americans,
a Native American, you came from someplace else.
Somebody brought you.
(cheering)
- [Namrata] I often use this byte from President Obama
as a short, precise way to define the American population.
Native Americans are indeed
the only true non-immigrant population in the United States.
And that's the beauty of America.
A matrix of all shades and backgrounds
living as one people.
(tribal music)
(cheerful bagpipe music)
My husband didn't see color
when we married over a quarter century ago.
Neither did I.
In fact, being in an inter-racial marriage,
my husband and I decided to retrace our roots.
One day, we would visit Scotland and Pakistan,
where our great-great grandparents came from.
It was amazing to visit his roots in Glasgow.
My great grandfather's home in Pakistan
is on the bucket list.
("Amazing Grace")
My point is, America's deeply rooted immigration
is part of the reason why many of us are so sympathetic
to today's current immigration crisis,
particularly that of the undocumented immigrant.
Many of us feel that it is hypocritical
and goes against our morals and values,
to deny help and safety to people who request asylum,
when our very own ancestors
sought the same refuge in America centuries ago.
Most of us wouldn't be here
had America closed its borders then,
so why should we close them now?
I'm even more shocked to learn that not just Valeria,
but hundreds of undocumented immigrant children,
have died in their attempt
to cross over the American border.
One of these little children who died on our border
last week is from India.
It just so happens that this little girl
belonged to the very area I'm visiting right now.
This little girl's name is Gurpreet.
- A seven-year-old girl died in the desert
west of Tuscon this week, as she and her sister
and three adult women entered the US illegally.
- As KGUN 9 On Your Side's Craig Smith reports,
this child came from the country of India.
- [Craig] Agents say most immigrants
come from Central America,
but they do see immigrants from India,
Africa, and other parts of the world,
and they usually connect-
(soft flute music)
- [Namrata] Further research teaches me
that Gurpreet's family is from Punjab, in India,
where my family's from.
But unlike me, they went to America to seek asylum.
Because I have lived outside of India
for the majority of my life,
I am clueless about the circumstances
that would cause Gurpreet's family to seek asylum.
Her parents indicated they wanted a safer,
better life for Gurpreet.
I know there are parts of India that are very poor.
We know religious persecution exists
in many parts of the world.
But how bad does poverty or persecution have to be
for a mother to take her child on such a dangerous trek
just to seek refuge?
Since I'm right here, I decide to find out.
Maybe as a filmmaker, I'm brought here by the universe
to share this child's story.
And so begins my search for this little girl's legacy.
Who died this week on US-Mexico border.
(guns firing) (suspenseful music)
(helicopter chopping)
- One thing that always amazes me
is that he enlisted knowing he was gonna go to war,
because we were in the midst of it, you know?
- I was in a social studies class.
A building was smoking.
I had no idea what happened.
And they're sitting here talking about a plane
flying into the building, into the Twin Towers.
I say by the end of the day on September 11th,
I felt pretty enraged.
And then I went to bootcamp in June of 2006.
And then I turned 18 August of 2006.
And then I turned 19 in Iraq.
Camp Fallujah is a very big base.
When I was in Iraq, hell yeah, I was scared.
I turned 19 in,
it was Al Taqaddum Air Force Base in Iraq.
On that day,
I went to the chow hall three times.
I watched somebody try and put an entire can
of Copenhagen in their mouth.
He ended up throwing up.
That was pretty much the highlight of my 19th birthday.
Birthday cakes are overrated,
you know what I mean.
- I remember when I was 10,
I loved to go to the theater.
My sister and I, every Saturday, theater.
And I loved to dance.
My family, they don't have money to give me to study.
And I wanna study.
That's why I came to the United States, to study.
I'm from Mexico.
Another people that I know
is from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras.
And the border, for everybody, is the same.
We had to jump to United States.
- I'm a legal immigrant.
Took me six years.
This little urn contains the ashes of my son.
(somber music)
I carry him with me all the time.
Dominic and I, we used to ride our motorcycles,
and I had a real bad crash,
and he was crying and telling me
that that was his worst nightmare.
And we talked about death, and he said,
"Well, what do you want?
You wanna be buried or you wanna have ashes?"
And I said, "I don't know yet."
And he told me, he said, "Well, let's have ashes of you.
I can put them in a little hamster ball
and have them in the car with me all the time.
And I'm not stuck to a city with a graveyard.
I can move anywhere and take you with me."
And I never thought it would be reversed,
and it would be his ashes I have with me.
When my son, my German chocolate,
graduated from high school, he had big dreams.
He wanted to work in law enforcement.
And he joined the 911 dispatch center, became a dispatcher,
and he was studying to become a motorcycle cop.
And then also studying to become a helicopter pilot
for the sheriff's department.
Who would have known that my son,
with all his big dreams, just 12 years later,
down the street from his high school on Pigeon Pass,
would lose his life in such a cruel manner
and his dreams would be cut short forever?
(soft music)
- I met one woman and she told me,
"Come, let's go to Mexicali."
I never think that I wanna start a nightmare.
(dial tone ringing)
- [Man On Phone] Good morning, ma'am.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Woman On Phone] Ms. Gujral,
you may want to try Shailee Dogra.
She's the Hindustan Times journalist
who covers these cases.
- [Woman On Phone] We got your message regarding Gurpreet.
I'm so sorry, but I cannot give you more information.
(light music)
- [Namrata] I manage to contact the HT journalist,
who agrees to meet with me the following morning.
Hindustan Times is one of India's top dailies
with a reported circulation of almost a million copies.
This appears to be a good start to Gurpreet's story.
But before I go any further, please let me clarify.
This film is neither Democrat nor Republican,
so if you're looking for a right or left film,
you might as well quit watching right now.
I have voted for both parties in the past,
but what this film has taught me
is the lines between liberalism and conservatism
often blur in the face of stark realities and bitter truths.
As the journalist details her article,
what I hear shakes me to my core.
It leads me to many corners of the world
in search of the truth.
And the truth is hard to swallow.
- If you go to any market,
the first thing that your eye catches
is the large hoardings that promise you to go abroad,
and offer you consultancy in helping you settle abroad,
so even if you don't have some documents.
There are about 700 which are operating
in Wahali district only.
In that, about 300 were registered.
There are a number of complaints from the applicants
who say that they had paid to a consultancy firm,
but they are not returning back.
Neither they have arranged for the visa
which they had promised.
Most of them don't even know what kind of work
they will be doing there.
They are promised something else,
and it is only when they reach the foreign shores,
that is when they realize
that they have ended up in a mess.
- [Namrata] The interview is an eye-opener
with regards to the exploitation
that pervades the chain of illegal immigration.
The HT reporter does not know
the whereabouts of Gurpreet's family.
But she does refers me to another renowned journalist
from The Indian Express,
who's an expert on illegal immigration.
The Indian Express
is one of India's oldest and top newspapers.
As I google her work,
the very first article I find is this piece,
which highlights the stories of many other children,
who also died on the US border, while crossing.
As I wait to make contact with this journalist,
I hear back from one of my local scouts.
He has found me the contact
for one of these perished children's father.
(speaking in foreign language)
(man speaking in foreign language)
Okay, great, thanks.
So, I decide to make a trip to go meet with him.
(light music)
We agree to go over the on-camera questions
while I'm driving to his town.
But on my way there,
I drive past one poor neighborhood after another.
I decide to take some detours to visit these neighborhoods.
I want to see if I can document
the extent of human suffering,
to where people are willing to risk their lives,
to seek refuge elsewhere.
And I'm devastated with what I see.
The living conditions here are reminiscent
of the poverty only portrayed in Hollywood movies.
In fact, some of the local kids
remind me of the cute little boy
from the movie, "Slumdog Millionaire."
(boy speaking in foreign language)
I'm also hoping that somewhere along the way,
someone can lead me to Gurpreet's family.
I'm in the Doaba region, an area with the largest number
of undocumented immigrants
who have sought asylum in the West.
Oddly, it doesn't appear that America is a subject
of conversations in these neighborhoods.
It seems that most of them don't really know much
about America at all, let alone wanting to go there.
(speaking in foreign language)
(kids speaking in foreign language)
(train horn blaring)
One particular neighborhood impacts me profoundly.
There's a little girl playing
on the other side of the tracks.
I imagine Gurpreet as that little girl,
but forced to give up her childhood and her life,
just so her family can survive.
Back on the road, I call the gentleman I'm interviewing
so we can go over the topics we will discuss on-camera.
But oddly, when I ask him if it was poverty or persecution
or violence that led to his child
making this horrendous journey,
there is silence on the other end of the line.
Then, just like that, the line disconnects.
I keep trying, but no one picks up.
Shortly thereafter, I get a strange text
from an attorney on behalf of the father.
Why would he decide to go to Europe
in my middle of a conversation?
Okay, maybe the attorney doesn't want him to talk to me.
But why wouldn't he just say that?
And then, a disturbing thought occurs to me.
What if someone else doesn't want him to talk to me?
But since I'm already on my way,
I decide I'll go talk to the family's neighbors.
As my crew and I approach the family's home,
I'm even more confused.
For privacy purposes,
I will not show the exact neighborhood.
But there is no way this is the home
I was invited to to interview the family at.
(soft music)
(explosions booming)
- Iraq was very hot.
And when we got to Kuwait, it was 125 degrees at 6:00 a.m.
And at that moment I was like, oh shit.
(Mandy chuckles)
What have I done?
(laughs)
How am I supposed to wear all this gear?
And it's gonna get even hotter if it's only 6:00 a.m.
- My husband deployed
to one of the most dangerous places in the world,
so that as a country,
we wouldn't have to worry about our own safety.
And one of my biggest priorities now
has become safety and not getting murdered,
or raped, or robbed, in this supposedly free country.
- So, when my dad passed away on August 1st of 2008,
I took a little bit of time for them
to get me a plane ticket, get me home,
and I got home, I think, August 3rd.
August 5th was when we had the visitation.
That was my 20th birthday.
(chuckles)
Fun three birthdays there for me.
- [Server] Here you go.
Just kinda went downhill from there,
and I got addicted to pain medication.
Not something I ever expected.
Honestly, I had wanted to be in the DEA.
At the time, I actually had an application pending at the VA
to be a VA police officer.
(weapon firing)
(explosion booms)
(fireworks booming)
- Jonathan said he wanted to get married on Independence Day
and then the fireworks started that night.
I've experienced a few flashbacks with him.
This, by far, was the most intense.
For some reason, he didn't recognize me.
He thought he was back, I guess, in Iraq,
and for some reason thought that I was some stranger
trying to imprison him.
It just got worse and worse.
And it's anxiety from your PTSD.
- [Namrata] Shortly thereafter, I got a text from Jonathan
to help him look for a job.
"Will push brooms, clean toilets, whatever else," he said.
"We just desperately need an opportunity to move forward."
(soft music)
- I was thinking there was the coyote.
The coyote is people that we help us to come here.
But it wasn't.
It was a cartel,
that they call Cartel Gulfo de Mexico.
They kidnapped us.
Kidnapping.
Kidnapped us.
So, they rape, they abuse the girls,
just for a plate of food.
Don't do that.
Don't do that anymore.
We women, we teenagers, we children.
They keep me for a month,
and they forced me to pay every day
1,500 pesos Mexicanos
to be there in that town.
Because I know they will not kill me,
I walked for 10 hours.
They told me that I'm gonna walk three hours
and they lied to me.
We was aching and we walking for 10 hours,
in the desert, no water, nothing.
One of the people,
they don't walk, they don't wanna walk anymore.
They left him in the desert.
And I just went, God, please help me.
And thank God, I'm not thirsty.
But they sell me with somebody else.
And they say, "I'm gonna have you in my car,
and you guys gonna pay me."
And I said okay.
But they lied to me.
They sell with another guy.
And the other guy put us in the trunk
and they put the key and locked.
And when we wanna pass one border, the dogs.
The dogs smelled us.
Immigration stopped them, thank God.
I can breathe.
- Now, there's a spot across the street
where illegal aliens hang out
to get picked up for cheap labor.
(soft music) (birds chirping)
On July 12th, 2012,
my husband, Anthony, and I had just arrived in Atlanta
on a red-eye flight from California.
We went to a Waffle House and had breakfast.
And as we were going to the car,
I felt like somebody unplugged me.
I dropped to the ground, almost passed out.
- Dominic Durden was riding his motorcycle
on Pigeon Pass Road in Moreno Valley.
He was on his way to work
as a Riverside County Sheriff's Dispatcher.
A vehicle being driven by an illegal alien
turned left in front of him.
And he was thrown from his motorcycle,
and killed on impact.
- And I dialed his number, and nobody picked up.
And then I called his work,
where the supervisor of Dominic informed us
that Dominic was killed that morning,
at the exact time where I passed out
in front of the Waffle House.
(somber music)
There were two Marines that were behind him
in their cars going to work.
He stopped, he ran over.
When I asked him, I said, "Did he know you were there?"
He said, "No, he wasn't alive anymore.
I just talked to him and covered him with my jacket."
He had just turned 30 years old.
- [Namrata] This story begins to take a life of its own
once I meet with the Indian Express journalist.
- I have been covering
this illegal immigration issue since long.
Gurpreet's case is a freak case,
which has brought into light
so many other such cases happened in the past.
Human trafficking problem.
We have a huge network of unscrupulous travel agents.
So such agents can be me, can be you,
can be a shopkeeper, can be a retired cop.
Then, these sub-agents, they have their contacts
in different countries.
Maybe in Central America, North African countries,
or Mexico, USA.
This is a chain, right?
- [Namrata] Agents, coyotes, smugglers.
Different names, same work.
- So, he will ask you pay me half amount or 40% amount,
or sometimes, 60% amount, in advance.
They take some tourist visa, maybe of Brazil,
Ecuador, Bahamas, any country
from where they can smuggle them into the USA.
After landing in Brazil, they will take you by a bus
or by truck to some nearby country,
and from there they will start donkeying.
Donkeys are there for finding safer entry points
to nearby countries.
The Strait of Panama, then they are going to Costa Rica,
from there Nicaragua, from there they are going to Mexico.
- [Namrata] Regardless of which border town they end up in,
the access to cross over is plentiful.
Vast open spaces of American soil beckon.
Although the new wall is under construction,
the old wall randomly turns into a guardrail
followed by miles of completely open border.
Here they seek asylum.
(people speaking in foreign language)
- Go , go, go, go, go.
Go, go, go.
All right, all right, all right, all right.
Bye, amigo.
- Bye. - Bye.
But are these really the tired, the poor,
the huddled masses yearning to breathe free?
- It is not poverty
which is driving them to go to foreign countries.
- [Namrata] The average payment to a coyote for one person
to illegally immigrate to the US
based on how far the coyotes have to take them
and the mode of transportation goes something like this.
- "And you guys gonna pay me $12,000," and I said, "Okay."
- Close to $50,000 they spend,
and they will earn that in two years.
- So where are the people that are claiming
to really be poor getting the thousands of dollars
to pay the coyotes?
- [Namrata] I decide to find out for myself
if the truly impoverished are who we are helping,
when they come to our borders,
even if it's for economic purposes.
(speaking in foreign language)
(man speaking in foreign language)
(all laughing)
Just like most other the world,
there seem to be six basic levels
of socio-economic status in India.
The super rich, the rich, the upper middle class,
the middle class, the low income, and the poor.
- [Anju] Somebody from a poor state
cannot afford to go there.
Secondly, they don't have that money.
(soft music)
- [Namrata] Arvind Singh works as a gardener.
Nanni and Ramvati work in different homes as house cleaners.
Dharmender works as a housekeeper.
All three belong to the lower income class in India,
one step up from the truly impoverished.
(birds chirping)
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Namrata] They're all struggling to make ends meet,
but still appear happy and optimistic.
When asked if money was not an issue,
would they want to make the trek to the West
so they could earn more money?
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Namrata] If the low income don't have the money
to pay the coyotes, the really impoverished surely do not.
The poor of these countries can't even afford three meals
a day, leave alone hefty agent fees
to coyotes and smugglers.
They don't have the kind of money to immigrate anywhere,
legally or illegally.
So, who are these asylum seekers then?
Why would someone who can afford to pay thousands of dollars
to coyotes risk their own and their family's lives
just to work illegally in America?
- The dollar dreams.
(upbeat music)
- [Namrata] It turns out, the coyotes sell a warped image
of America to potential victims.
Apparently, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
and the rainbow ends on American soil.
(speaking in foreign language)
- And just because they have a huge amount to spend.
- [Man] Posh cars.
- [Kid] People in America are rich.
- [Kids] Rich.
- [Kid] America is a developed country
so people in America is rich.
(soft music)
- Hunger's a bitch.
After a while, you'll start to lose your mind over it.
- Hunger is something
you really kind of have no choice but to get used to.
You get used to having scraps here and there,
and surviving off of it, but it's-
- Used to it?
- [Mandy] In a sense that you become numb to it.
You have to get to the drop-in centers or the shelters
by, what, 7:00 a.m., get in line.
And if you're not there by 9:00 a.m.,
you're screwed for anything for the day.
The first thing we get up and think is,
gotta get the tent down,
because we're not supposed to have our tent up
during the day.
- Imagine getting in a car and driving as far as you can go
until you run out of gas.
And wherever you run out of gas,
that's where you're resting for the night.
We just walk until we can't walk anymore.
- A lot of times, we don't even put the tent up
because we're too tired.
We just sleep right there.
When we first came out here,
they literally told us that if Jonathan didn't have a wife
that he could get help.
There's a building here with a transitional shelter
for homeless veterans.
They can stay there for what, three months,
while they get housing placement.
- Something like that.
They have a drop-in center, so to speak,
where I can do laundry, I can take showers.
You know, hang out and watch TV throughout the day.
Grab food.
And the first time I went in there I asked them,
"If I took a shower, could she take a shower too?"
And they said, "No."
(guns firing)
- [Mandy] So many people say,
"oh, thank you for your service,"
or we wanna honor the veterans."
- Veterans get health care.
That's nice, it's appreciated.
You've got military disability,
that can help, but depending on where you're living,
that's not really enough either.
I don't know how many charities we've contacted
and veteran's resources that said we're not qualified
for assistance or they don't have the funds.
We're in the wrong area code,
or we're in the wrong zip code,
or we're in the wrong county.
And it's just excuse after excuse.
I have met many other homeless veterans.
It saddens me, yes.
- We got Army, Navy, Air force, Marines out here.
- Our troops that are still fighting right now,
because someday those troops will be veterans.
Someday those troops will face the same issues
that I faced when I came home, which is PTSD.
And not understanding PTSD,
I didn't even think PTSD existed, honestly.
Because I think we've become very,
absolutely too comfortable with this,
you know, with homeless people on the sidewalk.
- [Namrata] Why do you think our politicians
are not on the sidewalk right now talking to you,
understanding your issues and doing something about it?
- Bourgeoisie and arrogant!
They bourgeoisie and arrogant and don't have no respect!
(somber music)
- Well, Dominic was more than just an accident victim,
he was a real pillar of the community.
He'd been an EMT, volunteer of the year in the city
doing cable shows, he wanted to be a Sheriff's pilot.
I mean, he was someone who was a young man
who was going to make a great impact in the community
for many years.
And then we learned that the person who caused the collision
was an illegal alien from Guatemala
who had been deported at least once or twice.
He had previous DUI convictions,
and so we had the situation where a great pillar
of the community was killed by a man
who should not have been in the country.
- [Sabine] And one of Dominic's friends, a motorcycle cop,
he was on his way to work, he got a call on his radio,
"Fatality on Pigeon Pass."
He went to the accident scene,
and when he arrived, he saw Dominic's motorcycle.
He recognized it,
and he recognized Dominic laying there, all mangled.
- It's like we were in a room full of light,
and all of a sudden, you know,
someone turned off the lights.
There were no lights coming in from the windows.
It was just dark.
- I'd just lost my son, and we went to the courthouse
to get some kind of justice for what just had happened,
and then the judge asked the defendant
if he had anything to say to the mother of his victim.
And he placed his hands in a praying position,
and told the judge, "God gives life, God takes life.
I was only on my way to work."
I was so shocked.
I expected, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to kill him,
anything, any kind of remorse.
Nothing.
- I was in the court when he was eventually sentenced
to nine months in jail.
I can tell you, what sticks with me most from that day,
was that after Mr. Zoon did not take responsibility
for Dominic's death, Sabina had to be helped
out of the courtroom by her friends.
She was overwrought with grief, she could barely stand.
For the victims, justice was in no way served.
For Sabina, the only thing that would be just
would be for Dom, her only son, to come back.
I think a lot of people believe that the sentence
should have been much longer,
it certainly should've been the full nine months.
So, he was let out after about 35 days.
- When my father, he passed away in 2014.
I didn't went to Mexico.
I didn't saw my father for a long time, years.
Like 20, 25, 26 years.
And he write a letter for me, and he say, "Don't come,
because you don't have papers."
I remember Thanksgiving,
my sister and I, we don't have money to buy chicken.
Chicken, not even a turkey, chicken.
In my first job that I found here, at that time,
the government paid them the hour, $6.25,
and they paid me $1.50 a hour.
In our country, sometimes, we are very poor.
We come here to have a better life.
But when you're here, you realize it's not like that.
When I send $100, it's almost 2,000 pesos in Mexico.
So, it's a lot of money.
It's one of the thing that we still here.
- $1 equal to rupees 70.
- [Namrata] So, 70 times?
- 70 times.
If you works in the USA for 10 hours,
and he gets $10 per hour,
so after 10 hours he'll get $100.
And then he will multiply that $100 by 70,
that means he's earning 7,000 in a day.
- Even if a person goes abroad
and is working as a taxi driver,
when he comes back, he would set up a new house,
buy a new car.
- I know one person, I interviewed him once.
He spent 20 years in the USA.
He went illegally.
And for 20 years he could not come back to India,
because if he had come, then he could not have gone back.
So, he decided to live there.
His children, they were really small when he left,
and when he came back, they were grown up.
That man had come five years back.
And still he's living a good life,
because he said that he had earned so much
that he can live whole life very comfortably.
(light ethnic music)
- That is why they want to go abroad at any cost.
This is dollar dreams which they are chasing.
- [Anju] So, what they do, they come back,
they take huge plot, or they have the land also,
and they make big, big palatial houses.
- We keep the money to send to Mexico to our families.
For us here, maybe it's not a lot of money,
but for them, yes, it's a lot of money.
But the sad thing here is, we don't see them.
They pass away, they get sick,
they lost, and we never see them.
- [Namrata] The agents charge not only to transport them
to American borders, but also to handle their asylum plea
once they are on US soil.
- Already these agents, they have contacts with some lawyers
in USA, those who are taking such cases.
Maybe $2,000 or $3,000,
then that lawyer will take their case
with the American court.
Then the case goes on.
Sometimes they remain in jail,
sometimes they get permit to work there.
And sometimes they face deportation,
so after coming back, they again try.
- [Namrata] For people looking for a lifestyle upgrade,
undocumented immigration serves as a monetary investment.
The coyotes serve as their investment bankers.
A flawed, broken American immigration system,
their investment vehicle.
- Our exit visa system is non-existent.
After 9/11, in 2003, Congress held hearings,
and they were supposed to create a bi-metric visa system.
And here it is 2020 and they haven't even started.
(ominous music)
Overstaying their tourist visa.
That's a big one and getting bigger.
And what about religious persecution?
- There is no danger to their lives at all.
While seeking political asylum in the USA,
they are still saying that there is persecution in India.
Which is not relevant in the current scenario.
- [Namrata] Although religious persecution
is an authentic problem in some parts of the world,
unfortunately some people use it as grounds to seek asylum
even if they're not being persecuted.
(bell clanking)
Some other loopholes appear even more bizarre.
- People also come into the country
either with a fake marriage
or sometimes they'll marry their sibling.
Then, of course, they separate.
And fake work and school visas
that allow them to take away jobs from Americans.
The Green Card Lottery System
that was meant to address diversity,
and is literally picking names out of a hat.
A thing called the U visa,
which allows somebody that's a victim of a crime
but here illegally to get a permanent visa and stay.
And a lot of those stories are made up.
Many of the people that are coming through
are creating fake families.
Because of the Flores Agreement,
which says children have to be released after 20 days,
they're renting children.
Once they get through with their fake family,
they know they're gonna be released.
It's basically catch and release.
Once they're released,
they may show up for some of their hearings.
Months later, they get a determination.
Well, 85 to 95% of the time that determination says
your asylum claim has been denied,
and please report on, you know, whatever the date is,
to be deported.
(ominous music)
Well, 2% of them show up.
The rest of them disappear in the country,
never to be seen again.
- [Namrata] The volume of fake applications
mires an already stressed system.
- Our first son, Drew, was born in 1985,
and fast forward 25 years,
he's in San Francisco in law school.
And we get a call one night
that there's been a terrible accident
and to come to San Francisco right away.
(somber music)
Then he told me that our son was killed
in a traffic collision, that's all we knew.
The guy never even made an attempt to stop.
He was in the country illegally.
He accelerated and drove over his body.
My son's helmet, he was on a motorcycle,
had come off, and wedged under his rear tire.
So, he backed up, driving over him a second time.
And then trying to flee down the street
he went forward a third time.
His rear tire was on my son's abdomen
and five men had to lift the car off of him.
- [Namrata] I'm in shock.
I don't want to believe any of this is true.
So, I continue on to find Gurpreet's family,
hoping that her family's case for asylum
will be one of the authentic ones.
That I'll find some poverty or persecution there,
that makes sense as to why her young life was risked
when her family undertook that awful journey.
(light music)
The journalist tells me that Gurpreet's village
is called Hasanpur.
She's also arranged for me to meet
with Gurpreet's grandfather.
Oh my God.
This movie should be called "The Quest for Hasanpur."
Hasanpur is nowhere near where Google Maps tells me it is.
I am so lost in the hinterland of India.
But I'm strong in my resolve.
I will not leave India without finding Gurpreet's truth.
And then I find the town I'm looking for.
The moment of truth is here.
I use a previously published article to validate
that this is indeed Gurpreet's grandfather.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Namrata] Apparently, just like Gurpreet's family,
the majority of asylum cases are purely a function
of economic upgrade, which in and of itself, is not a crime.
But when you risk your children's lives
purely for material benefit, then it becomes unacceptable.
As Americans, that's what should piss us off.
My heart breaks for this family,
and for the countless other families, who've been destroyed.
All because people risk lives, so they can go to America
to make more money or avail free benefits.
Lured by the lucrative promises of American messaging,
some who can't afford smuggler payments
even take out loans to pay for the trek.
In the bargain, they mortgage themselves to the hilt.
After all, they are told that once they're in America,
just two years of work
will allow them to pay back their entire loan.
Then, they and their families can live happily ever after.
- Raise your hand if your government plan
would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants.
(audience applauding)
Okay.
- [Namrata] So here, a coyote is showing this clip
to undecided immigrants to convince them that paying $50,000
per person is worth it to have free health care in America
for the rest of their lives.
The danger is down played.
After all, they see is the video
of the easy five-minute walk from Mexico to America.
What do they have to lose?
What they're not told is that they stand to lose everything
if they get deported.
Or worse, die at the border while crossing.
(somber music)
On this day alone, the coyote gets two takers.
Free health care in America?
Who wouldn't want that, right?
Everyone.
Including the Americans who've been left behind.
- We have a massive homeless problem.
We have a massive poverty problem,
particularly in the black American community.
Many of the Latinos who have come here legally,
they're getting pushed aside
because the illegal alien will work for less.
We have a lot of people in this country
that are really suffering.
Single moms, couple of children.
They could be working two or three jobs.
But it's just not enough to make ends meet.
Then some of their taxes are going to pay
for not only people who are here illegally,
but probably their illegality is lowering the wages
that this woman could get
if they weren't here and there wasn't a crunch for jobs.
(light music)
- It's a permanent sense of loss that cannot ever be fixed.
- Grief means not having my best friend,
play a prank on me like he used to, make me laugh, hug me,
call me with exciting news.
Grief means that life as it was
the moment before he got killed is over.
And grief follows me everywhere.
And grief means that you become the biggest actress or actor
once you lose your child because you can't talk about this,
or share this constantly, or cry all the time,
like I feel like at times.
On that morning, two lives were taken,
Dominic's life and mine.
- If they have a criminal record,
the only way you can come in is to come in illegally.
- Some people say, "Wait until they commit a serious crime,"
but others point out that illegal immigrants
are by definition law breakers.
- Before sending them into US territory,
they take their passports and everything.
And they will put a simple letter in their pocket.
"Please give us political asylum, our life is in danger."
- Once those people are in the country, they create new IDs.
But it's so easy to get a driver's license using a fake ID
that now you have a driver's license.
So, you now have a government document
that says who you are when you're not.
If we get to the day where everybody's legalized
and we're giving these people a pathway to citizenship,
now they're basically here permanently, and protected.
(light music)
- [Namrata] The scouts helping me in India
tell me this one guy who murdered three people.
Since he had the money,
he paid coyotes to help him cross the border into Texas.
His old identity died on the Mexico-Texas border.
Even with multiple warrants against him, he can't be found.
He gave a fake name and fake story,
was allowed into the United States.
Ultimately his asylum was denied,
but he never showed up for deportation.
It's now been seven years.
I'm told, this murderer now drives a cab in California.
(ominous music)
- One of the issues of the southern border is terrorism.
Especially if you're a terrorist
you're gonna take the path of least resistance.
Then they're gonna come in,
just walking across where it's easy for them to do that.
And we know that 'cause we've caught people doing that.
The amount of drugs coming across the southern border
is massive and we see it certainly in the opioid crisis
that we have now.
- At one point I was doing 15 Percocet 30s a day.
Heroin took its place.
So, then I was doing heroin.
Then coke's available.
And now the big thing is meth.
I went to jail for, like, five or six times.
- Oh, we don't need a physical barrier
because 90% of the drugs come through points of entry.
The truth is that 90% of the drugs
that are seized are seized at points of entry.
- The same day. - The same day.
- We're half a mile from the US-Mexico border.
- We have no idea what's coming across the border
that we never see.
- First it was the coyote,
and later the cartel.
The cartel in Gulfo.
And now I have fear of ICE.
I'm living in the shadows.
If someone does something to me or my car or something,
I can't go to the police.
- A lot of crime against people that are here illegally,
because people figure they're not gonna report it.
A woman named Veronica Cabrera Ramirez.
She lived up in Northern California.
Her boyfriend was illegal
and she reported him for domestic violence.
Well, they arrested him.
Because he had been previously deported,
ICE got a hit and said we want him, we'll deport him.
The Sonoma County sheriff let him go.
Sanctuary policy.
Two weeks later, he murdered Veronica.
Now the irony of that story is you have all the wokeness
saying you have to let every person who's a victim
of domestic violence in these countries into the US.
Well, what the hell good is it if you let them into the US
and then somebody commits domestic violence here
and you won't deport them?
(speaking in foreign language)
- We know children are dying, but we don't know who they are
because the coyote's not gonna report them,
and the family may report them missing,
which they do sometimes, and oftentimes their body is found
in the desert as skeletal remains,
because they've been there sometimes for years.
That journey is extremely dangerous.
Numbers have been thrown around that 1/3 of the women
that come on the journey
are sexually assaulted on their way.
What's happening to a child that sees something like that?
And then the irony is that when they get here
all of the sudden if we put them in a detention facility
for a couple of days, we hear,
oh, you've destroyed this child,
they're now gonna be afraid for the rest of their lives.
They just spent three months
in what's horror every single day.
They're concerned where they came from,
and they're concerned where they end up,
but they don't give a damn what happened to them
in the middle.
- [Namrata] It wasn't always like that.
The Bracero Program, a guest worker program
which was initiated in 1942 and ended in 1965,
allowed Mexican farmworkers to work in the US
with decent living conditions such as sanitation,
adequate shelter and food, and a guaranteed minimum wage.
But in 1965, it was discontinued.
Suppose instead of halting the Bracero Program,
Congress had expanded it to include the world,
but with safeguards.
First, Americans would get priority for American jobs.
Second, if unable to fulfill job openings,
employers could bring guest workers
but had to match the wages and working conditions
afforded to Americans.
It would remove the incentive for American employers
to hire illegal immigrants, simply to get cheaper labor.
But it would still give employers the opportunity
to have a full work force,
if Americans were unable to fill in the open jobs.
I look for other countries today
that might have similar immigration policies
to the Bracero Program.
(upbeat ethnic music)
The United Arab Emirates is a flourishing, developed nation.
Dubai, a prominent city in the UAE,
is a beautiful fusion of ancient culture and modern luxury.
The majority of the workforce that has built Dubai
are almost exclusively immigrant guest workers.
As employers are unable to fill certain jobs
with Emirati citizens
because of the limited local population.
On the other hand, people from all around the world
are willing to work in Dubai due to the high exchange rate.
So, Dubai welcomes immigrant workers
from other countries on legal guest programs.
- So my company is being my sponsor,
but bringing me on the basis of work visa.
(speaking in foreign language)
- (speaking in foreign language) 1,000 Rupees, Indian money,
Only 1,000 Rupees.
But here, we will get around 30,000 Rupees.
Like they can make home, build their family good,
make their children study well.
They'll get more money from here.
- I think that Dubai, in this context,
they're doing an amazing job.
That's the reason maybe they're the business hub
of the world.
(speaking in foreign language)
- I like my country so much.
I will go back, Surely, I will go back,
after getting some more money.
Now after 10 or 15 years later,
I will go back to my country.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Namrata] This wealth goes back
into the worker's home nation and not only helps the worker
with better economic upgrades when they return,
but also benefits their countries directly.
Countries that could certainly use a hand.
It is estimated
that approximately eight million foreign nationals
live and work legally in the UAE.
(hopeful music)
It is estimated
that approximately 10 million foreign nationals
live and work illegally in the USA.
Imagine if like the UAE,
the United States was willing to let these 10 million
or more illegal immigrants come through legally,
on guest worker programs, without risking their own
or their family's lives to cross the border.
Imagine if we could document these workers,
not only to run criminal records,
but also to let them come here, work and live with dignity.
(speaking in foreign language)
Where they would not be afraid
to report a crime against them.
Where they could have a job that pays a fair, livable wage.
Where the American worker would get first priority
to fill any jobs in America.
Where if any jobs are left unfulfilled by American workers,
the guest workers could help the US economy
while still investing in and retiring
in their home countries, all without partaking
in any of the welfare or retirement benefits
so desperately needed for American citizens.
One of the problems that's often cited with foreign aid
is that the money never makes it past the corruption chains
of local politicians.
Here, the people invest in their communities directly,
and bypass any corruption.
We can take care of our own first
and still get to help those around the world
that need it most.
With no lives risked through illegal immigration.
Sounds like a win-win to me.
- The United States is running concentration camps
on our southern border.
And that is exactly what they are.
They are concentration camps.
- Politicians like AOC, trashing the border patrol,
and likened it to concentration camps.
I'm also Jewish, but to call them concentration camps
is an insult to all the people that died
in concentration camps or were there at all.
- Haven't seen any politicians.
Haven't seen any politicians.
I've seen reporters out here,
I've seen very few liaisons out here.
You can either disgrace your veterans,
or you can honor your veterans.
(revealing music) - Yes!
- I want our politicians to understand
that when our troops who support the very freedom
that gets abused everyday so radically
in ways that is mind-blowing,
I want our politicians to recognize
that this is what is crippling and destroying freedom
and liberty in America today.
- We have sacrificed our lives,
we have sacrificed our blood,
we have sacrificed our families.
- [Namrata] What is your message to politicians
in the 2020 election?
- Get their head out their bottoms.
- We're fed a narrative that makes a compassionate person,
which we are, I think we're a very compassionate country,
it misplaces the compassion.
It's certainly okay to feel for people
that live in poor situations, violent situations,
and I think as a people we want to help them.
The reality of it is, there's probably two billion people
in the world that fit into that category
and we can't bring them all here.
- [Namrata] Who knows compassion
better than the Dalai Lama?
Not politically correct compassion, but real compassion.
Because of the COVID-19 circumstances,
I can't interview him in person.
But I do find an interview with him on this subject.
- European countries should take these refugees
and give them education and training,
and then aiming is return to their own land.
- And if these people want to stay in Europe,
shouldn't they be allowed to?
- Limited number okay.
But whole Europe eventually become Muslim country,
impossible, or African country, also impossible. (laughs)
- There's nothing wrong with that, is there?
I mean you're a refugee yourself.
- They themselves I think better to their own land.
(soft music)
- [Namrata] Have we taken the easy route
of misplaced compassion, instead of doing the hard work
to actually determine how and who we hurt
rather than help by not enforcing our immigration laws?
And have we let Americans down in the bargain?
And if so, why?
- One of the things that's beneficial to politicians
with illegal immigration, besides the money which they get
from the federal government, is legislative positions.
All the states that have big illegal alien populations,
the way the law works,
they get counted and represented by Congress.
If California didn't have any illegal aliens here,
those seats would go elsewhere.
Plus, the funding, whether it's extra school funding
or crime funding,
a lot of it's based on pure numbers of people,
doesn't matter what their status is.
The public would be outraged if they knew the truth.
- [Namrata] The irresponsible messaging
does not end with the politicians.
Some of our media is as much to blame.
For example, CNN covered Gurpreet's story
two days after I did.
The CNN article clearly states that Gurpreet's father
is seeking asylum in America,
but they failed to report on the visible lack
of asylum circumstances.
Why wouldn't the reporter have reported that?
It makes America look like the culprit,
while fully ignoring the perpetrators, the coyotes,
who are the real ones to blame.
(soft music)
- I still have nightmares.
I still have sometimes depression.
I still have anxious.
And I still have insomnia.
Sometimes I wake up if I hear a little noise
or I hear the helicopter or something.
I just wake up.
(helicopter chopping)
(somber music) (crickets chirping)
- [Sabine] Every night I sit and I look up at the sky,
and I talk to my son.
That day, Dominic turned into a star.
And Dominic, my baby, became engraved on this rock.
- Pat Tillman was a professional football player
and after September 11th happened,
he makes millions of dollars,
he decided that he was going anyway.
And on his deployment, he was killed.
It was a time when this country needed-
- Some heroes. - Needed some heroes.
And he answered that call.
I love the country.
I do. I love it.
I think the United States of America
has let the veterans down.
It would be nice if people thought about it for a minute,
what life would be like had people not laid down
the ultimate sacrifice and given up their lives,
so that people could have these freedoms.
- The Bible is the one thing I can always go to.
It's really one of the few things
that keeps me from losing my shit,
for lack of a better word.
(intriguing music)
- [Namrata] Countless Americans have died
at the protection of America and what it stands for.
One of our greatest freedoms that we fought for,
and that we have, is that of free speech
and the ability to tell the truth.
But in today's world of cancel culture,
it's hard to call out the truth.
I almost didn't make this film,
because my friends, my industry colleagues, even my family,
all rallied against the final message of this film
just because it did not align with their world view.
(intense music)
But what this film has taught me
is that sticking to a message that endangers lives,
intentionally or not, is not being a humanitarian.
It doesn't matter if the journey begins in India,
Central America, Africa, or another part of the world,
the stories are the same, only the faces change.
What this film has also taught me
is that ignoring the constant abuse
of America's noble asylum policies
does far more harm than good.
And that lumping illegal immigration
with America's generous immigration principles
is the dishonor of the word immigrant.
- [Sabine] I want people to know and understand
that legal immigration is okay.
It's what America needs, every country needs immigration.
- [Namrata] But if I'm going to call out the truth,
then I must acknowledge
that one can be against illegal immigration
and still be immigration supportive and immigration proud.
The two are not the same.
- [Sabine] When I came to the United States,
I was a registered democrat.
- I registered as a democrat when I was 18,
and I still am 50 years later.
I'm still a democrat, I still consider myself a liberal.
- [Namrata] Although this film hasn't swayed me
from leaving the Democratic party,
we as moderate democrats have a lot of work to do.
- Had the person who was here illegally
(soft music)
not have been here illegally
he would not have killed Dominic on that day.
- [Sabine] I hear a lot about people saying
it was just an accident,
he could've been killed by an American,
and I agree, he could have, but he was not.
He was killed by somebody that was not supposed to be here,
wasn't allowed to be here.
- And whoever is responsible for illegals being here,
are kind of responsible for all of the damage
and all of the harm and all of the hurt,
the destruction that is caused by just them being here.
- [Namrata] Several pieces of legislation
introduced in 2020 by Democrats,
some by women of color like me, has stunned me
and thrown my support for the Democratic party in a spiral.
Not only do I think these irresponsible messages
dangle more carrots in front of unsuspecting victims,
but proposals like The New Way Forward Act
basically ask for a radical change
to our immigration policy.
A change that would protect
criminal immigrants from deportation.
(soft music)
My first thought, another bait the smugglers can use
to snare in more victims.
(sheep bleating)
My next thought, the cries of those who will become victims
of the unintended consequences of this messaging.
- I was thinking that to come to America
is gonna be very easy, very happy, very comfortable.
And it wasn't like that.
I think I was gonna have a lot of clothes,
I'm gonna have a lot of food,
I'm going to Disneyland.
I've never went to Disneyland.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Everything that I hear over there in Mexico
that I'm gonna have here, it's a lie.
- [Namrata] This irresponsible messaging has to stop.
(raindrops pattering) (thunder rumbling)
- [Sabine] What if this was your child?
Think about it.
- We're so worried about other countries' problems,
and we don't even focus on our own.
- [Namrata] Jonathan is still looking for a job.
But politics appears to trump poverty
in this election cycle.
Joe Biden now calls the Obama era deportations
a "big mistake."
Mr. Biden, who voted in favor
of the Secure Fence Act of 2006, is now for open borders.
And Joe Biden credits the people coming on H1B visas
to have built this country.
Mr. Biden, America was built by the blood
and sweat of Americans.
African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans,
Caucasian Americans, and the many others, but all American.
They need employment first.
So, now you've got illegal immigrants
taking up blue-collar jobs for cheaper.
And H1B visa holders
taking up white-collar jobs for cheaper.
I understand that a corporation's goal is profit,
so cheaper labor helps corporations.
I get that.
(intriguing music)
But, in the meantime, what are the American kids to do?
America is not for sale.
If this is where the Democratic party is in 2020,
I will not vote for Joe Biden.
And if we don't start putting Americans first,
the Democratic party will lose more moderates like me.
So, in the America of the 21st century,
we must be willing to ask,
how do we define the tired, the poor, the huddled masses?
Who do we take in?
Because there are billions who qualify,
but those who need help most
don't even appear to even make it to our borders.
They remain on the other side of the tracks.
Nobody wins, except the coyotes, the corporations,
and possibly, the politicians.
As I traveled through the last part of Mexico
to get to the Lukeville border patrol check point,
I reflected on the innocence of this little child,
who didn't know what was in store for her,
less than an hour later.
As I walked through the spot
where six-year-old Gurpreet's body was found,
it all came together for me.
Gurpreet, Dominic, Jonathan, Maria, they were all victims
of America's utterly broken immigration system.
As of last contact, Jonathan is still looking for a job.
He has recently been to the Mexican border
to seek cheaper drugs.
This very border still traffics many other Marias
to their nightmare.
American and foreign nationals still die every month,
either at the hands of someone
who has illegally crossed this border
or under the harsh conditions of this border
while trying to cross illegally.
Gurpreet's legacy is that we think through
what appears to be good intentions
and consider the potential ramifications
of our misplaced compassion.
Gurpreet's legacy is that we consider America's impoverished
along with the rest of the world
and make smart, non-partisan political choices.
Gurpreet's legacy is that we remember to put out messaging
that does not forget who we hurt while we try to help.
("Amazing Grace")