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Posted By Cristina Noriega at 10:31 PM
The 800 Mile Wall is a new documentary directed by John Carlos Frey. The trailer provides a glimpse of what will undoubtedly offer a compelling look at the human cost of immigration:
In an editorial in today’s Huffington Post, Frey introduced his film, including the following excerpt: "A few years ago I grew concerned about the massive escalation of security infrastructure that was being built along the U.S. Mexico border...Why did we need to spend billions of dollars on border walls, technology and thousands more border guards? I decided this would be the subject matter of my next film and I would try to answer these questions.
From 2007 - 2009 I followed the construction of what is now close to 800 miles of border security infrastructure along the U.S.-Mexico international boundary. Vehicle barriers, pedestrian fencing, virtual fences, cameras, sensors and miles of new roads were being rapidly installed. I went from Brownsville, TX to San Diego, CA and points in between and what I found was disastrous. Dozens of environmental laws were waived in order to acquire land and build the new border walls and infrastructure. New technology was unproven, over priced and non-functional. Deserts and mountains were permanently scarred - all to protect "us from them." The assessments from scholars, government agencies and even border patrol was that this multi-billion dollar effort was not going to solve America’s immigration problems. All of those details may have made a compelling documentary film. Even with all the blunders and cost overruns there was something else that caught my attention - something that the media left out of their "illegal immigration" reporting. The effect of increased border security was proving to be a massive killer." Read his complete description here. I am eager to watch this film because it brings attention to the human cost of constructing a border fence. As Frey concludes, comprehensive immigration reform must address this reality as well: If comprehensive immigration reform fails to deal with migrant death at the U.S. - Mexico border, it is neither comprehensive nor reform. People will continue to risk their lives to flee oppression, seek opportunity, feed their families or unite with them. Forcing people to risk their lives by funneling them through deserts and mountains is inhumane. As a nation that prides itself on respecting human rights, it must be at the foundation of any immigration reform policy and the first place to start is by removing the death penalty from U.S. border security policy.
To see a list of scheduled screenings or order the DVD, click here.
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You quote John Carlos Frey: "Forcing people to risk their lives by funneling them through deserts and mountains is inhumane." I would like to suggest if anyone is "forcing" people to risk their lives it is Mexico. They have an elitist government who cheers when their poor people leave the country, especially when they send back their hard earned dollars to Mexico. Will no one take Mexico's government to task at the shoddy treatment of their own people?