Day 3 - Response to "30 Days" documentary

I found a 30 Days documentary that had to do directly with the illegal immigration issue in the United States, which gives viewers a more personal viewpoint into the lives of illegal immigrants in the US today, the way they currently live as well as why they have come here, and the proposing and opposing opinions about this specific issue.

Frank, a minuteman who works to keep illegal aliens out of the United States at the American-Mexican border, will stay with an illegal family of 7 (except the two youngest children) in their small two-bedroom home for 30 days to experience their way of living.

Frank will be required to:
• Leave all papers or documents labeling personal identification behind.
• Live with an illegal family of 7 in their two-bedroom apartment.
• Be put to work with Rigoberto (father) as a day laborer.

After watching the video:
Break-down of the most important video times:

5:17 – 6:12 – What Frank will be doing for the next 30 days.

12:52 – 15:01 – Frank and Rigoberto each give a short monologue about their own personal opinions on how illegal immigrants can benefit (Rigoberto’s view) or harm (Frank’s view) the legal American citizens.

16:28 – 17:21 – Frank’s great disagreement with illegal immigration.

19:30 – 20:19 – Patty discuses her excitement of earning $5 for the day with Frank, and shows him the $49 she has collected since the beginning of the year to save for her children. This shows Frank how important every single dollar is to this family; the frugality of their lifestyle.

20:49 – 20:56 – Effective Quote: “It’s very hard on a person when you look at people and you like them, yet you know they’re not supposed to be here, and you know that they’ve broken the law by being here and yet you feel for them.” –Frank

24:12 – 25:30 – Armida believes it is inhumane for a legal citizen not to hire an illegal, while Frank says it has no value to society and is breaking the law.

28:32 – 29:20 – Shows the difficulty Patty faces being stuck in America, knowing she cannot get out to see her family until/unless she becomes a legalized citizen.

30:39 – 34:50 – Footage of the greatly poor conditions Rigoberto and his family had to face in Mexico. Effective Quote: “The place [Rigoberto’s brother’s home in Mexico] was filthy, not because they don’t have a habit of cleaning, it is just that no matter what you try and clean there you can’t make something clean that’s got 50 years worth of dirt on it.” –Frank

35:50 – 36:30 – Effective Quote: “I always imagine that they came from a background of poverty until you see what they would be going back to, you can’t feel the full impact of everything. It does bring up a tremendous aspect of what they would be going back to… It just shows the kind of dilemma that we’re in as human beings who have a heart and feel for other people and you say to yourself, ‘I want the laws of my country enforced’ and at the same time you look at what they [illegal immigrants] are headed to. It does have an effect.” –Frank

37:38 – 38:55 – This shows a truly emotional moment in which the Gonzalezes watch footage of their family (that they have not seen for roughly 12 years) back in Mexico.

39:00 – 40:00 – A taste of Frank’s new perspective on illegal immigration. Effective Quote: “I can’t blame them [Gonzalezes and other illegal immigrants] for trying to seek a better lifestyle – I just can’t.” –Frank

40:30 – 42:12 – Frank’s view shifts completely here. Effective Quote: “He [Frank] doesn’t feel as strongly about his beliefs as he did before…” –Armida

46:05 – 46:30 – Frank leaves the Gonzalez family; extremely touching and emotional part of the documentary.

Overview/Comments:

Armida, the oldest child (who is illegal), continuously debates with Frank over their completely separate views. To Armida, it is only fair that she feel compassion towards the other illegal immigrants in the United States because she is one herself. She feels the law should not be followed when it puts the life/well-being of another group of people in jeopardy. If someone’s life can be changed for the better, why stop them? To Armida, there is nothing that the majority of illegal immigrants are doing to this country that serves as a disadvantage to the American people. However, Frank believes that if crossing the border is against the law, people should simply, not do it. No matter the conditions they lived in before, it is unfair to cross the border into a country they do not yet belong to because they could not handle their own conditions in mainly Mexico, as well as the other Central American countries in which most illegal immigrants come from.

At 16:50 – 17:20, Frank says, “They [illegal immigrants] have to have a revolution in their country. They have to fix their country. I don’t want any American blood shed over Mexico… Oh, they’re here, but problems are problems and you have to deal with them, that’s what it is. Life is not easy. Why does it happen? Because this government doesn’t do what it is supposed to do and their government in Mexico has let them down. I do not give up my country for anybody!”

Towards the ending of the documentary, it is apparent that Frank begins to feel more understanding and sympathy for not only the Gonzalez family, however the other illegal immigrants as well who have been left with no choice but to travel illegally to the United States in search for a home and job or be left in their impoverished countries, living in conditions that not even a homeless person in America would be exposed to.

Frank understands this concept; however it is still unlawful to cross the border without legal documents. Watching footage of Rigoberto’s old home (with about 3 run-down walls, the size of a small room, no carpet – just grass and dirt, no rooms or plumbing), it is easy to understand why a family of illegal immigrants would choose to cross the border. It is illegal, but how is it fair to make immigrants from other countries who live in these horrible conditions wait a year or over to find out whether they are even allowed to reside in the United States or not? The problem is the immigration process. People should not have to wait that amount of time to know whether they are citizens or not. That is completely appalling and ridiculous!

It is easy to see how Frank’s perspective on illegal immigrants has changed. As stated, there are two ways of looking at this issue – understanding it according to one’s feelings or emotions or going strictly by the law, regardless of the conditions others have had to live through. There is truly no way to understand the people who have crossed the border illegally without seeing with your own eyes exactly why they did so.

At 35:32 – 36:20, Frank says, “Having come down here brings a new dimension into a dialogue that we have quite often, where she looks at me and she says ‘I want to be legalized.’ I always imagine that they came from a background of poverty until you see what they would be going back to, you can’t feel the full impact of everything. It does bring up a tremendous aspect of what they would be going back to… It just shows the kind of dilemma that we’re in as human beings who have a heart and feel for other people and you say to yourself, ‘I want the laws of my country enforced’ and at the same time you look at what they [illegal immigrants] are headed to. It does have an effect.”