Illégal

In 2000, Tania is an ethnic Russian from Belarus. She burns off her fingerprints and sneaks into Europe with her son Ivan. In 2008, they are in Belgium with false identities. Ivan is 13 and going to school while Tania is working. Plain clothes officers arrest Tania but Ivan is able to escape with the fake documents. She refuses to give the officials her identity. With no evidence, she hopes to force them to eventually release her. She befriends African Aissa who is constantly fighting with the guards and their procedures to deport her.

The great thing here is that it shows the murky world of deportation. It doesn't make easy heroes and villains. It shows the detainees as thinking people as they navigate the system in real ways. It shows the legal issues that are not so easy. It shows the legal difficulties of actually deporting someone humanely who is unwilling to cooperate. Tania is a fully fleshed character and her story is compelling.