Immigration Nation

How do some of these people sleep at night? The hardest episode to watch was "The Right Way" (#5). It shows how broken our system is and unnecessarily so. It provides great insight into those who say "just do it the legal way!" even when those in charge don't even know what the legal way seems to be. One outright states he enjoys "hunting" human beings. Like, he says exactly those words. This was hard to watch but it is well worth your time.

I 'may' try to watch this documentary another time but within the first 15 minutes I was so disgusted I had to stop. What kind of people actually make conscious decisions to do this type of 'work'? I had read that it was a 'fair' depiction of both sides but I didn't see one 'officer' who struck me as anything but horrible. With all that is going on right now probably better to put off watching despicable people carrying out dispicable direction from a dispicable president.

I had heard this was an anti-ICE series but I didn't get that sense at all. It certainly delved into some controversial policies, but those aren't created by the ICE employees. For the most part, I see ICE agents doing their jobs and in a respectful and diligent manner. Any errant comment can be taken out of context.

As for the politicians, the series tries to show all sides, warts and all. Trump and his aides are certainly disingenuous in their about face on family separations. However, the "Abolish ICE" crowd comes off as unrealistic. Whatever the agency is called, there is still going to be a need to enforce immigration laws.

A lot of people say it's anti-trump, however all they do is share things the trump administration has done and the effects it's had. so if you think that's anti trump, then idk what to tell you. i don't think this show is trying to convince you to hate trump/ice or to have open borders or let illegals stay, rather show you what really happens to people who come here illegally and legally. it opens your eyes to the very flawed system and how there really is no "right way" to enter the u.s. if you don't have connections here. it tries to humanize every side. it's a complicated subject because every case is different and it's not as simple as "if they came here illegally they get deported." in fact, it's much more complicated than that. it highlights all the issues with the system in place and the changes that have happened over the years. it's very painful to watch and i cried multiple times. i encourage you to watch it with an open mind and watch every episode.

So, this is only out for a few days and these reviews are already bonkers from both sides. I'll try to be objective as this doc-series was on a very divisive issue.

I think the biggest takeaway from this series is how our policies and bureaucracy have such a high toll on people in complex situations. It humanized the immigrants. It showed what troubles they face from both legal immigration to undocumented, illegal immigration. Families ripped apart. Decades of life uprooted from where they now call home. A veteran who is here illegally so he can be with his family. It also humanized some of the immigration officers. An ICE agent with a family who empathized with the subject and let them tell their family goodbye. A CBP agent who saved an undocumented border crosser from dehydration and possibly death.

For the "outrage" that this is liberal propaganda, please just consider that this film is not a Michael Moore piece with some huge narrative. It presents real situations from real people. Most of this was filmed recently, so it shows people affected by the current administration's policies. It didn't only show illegal immigrants either. It showed asylum seekers who were also trying to enter correctly, and what hurdles they faced. However, it also pointed out that the previous administration deported more than any before him, as well as issues with the current immigration laws and policies enacted under Clinton. Episode 6 has a very pro-CBP stance. Shows many of the officers are there to stop human trafficking. Sad to see the true nature of a lot of that is related to organized crime, and it's good that CBP is working on that.