Living Undocumented by Selena Gomez (episode 1)

Living Undocumented by Selena Gomez (episode 1)

Living undocumented is a documentary series that focuses on people living undocumented in the united states. This documentary look at the lives of eight different families living in South Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Texas, California, and Maryland. In the first episode, “A prayer in the night,” the documentary series focus on the life of three families, Luiz and Kenia family, Ron and Karen family, and Alejandra’s family. The episode builds an image of the USA’s troubled immigration system and the villainized ICE. This is as the result of President Donald Tramp’s directive on the new zero-tolerance policy on immigration. The policy does not only permit the ICE to detain and deport criminals but also target anyone living in the USA undocumented.

The first episode introduces us to Luiz, who has to drive his girlfriend Kenia’s son Noah to reunite with her mother at the ICE detention facility in Kansas City. Kenia and Noah are scheduled to be deported in thirty-six hours. Luiz came to the USA from Honduras in 2012 when he was still young, and he has been living in the USA undocumented and undetected by the ICE. He came to seek a better life offered by the USA. Immigrants move from their countries to the USA for various reasons, like seeking asylum and a better experience. I think the zero-tolerance policy on immigration is harsh and sometimes violates the human right. For instance, Kenia is separated from her son when she is arrested and handled like a criminal even though she was five months pregnant. We expect any pregnant woman to be handled with care as far as human rights are concerned. Both Luiz and Kenia are living in the USA undocumented, but the authority arrested Kenia since she had a removal order..

Still, in the same episode, we are introduced to Ro’s family. Ron is the husband of Karen, and they have three children. Ron and his family came from Israel and have lived in the USA undocumented for seventeen years. Ron and Karen came to the USA as tourists in the quest to find a peaceful and safe place to raise their family. They did not want to stay in Israel and be around the conflict between the Israeli and the Palestinians. Ron hoped they would acquire permanent resident in the USA, and after going through various procedures that never materialized, he decided to stay in shadows. Ron and Brad co-own a branding and packaging company where he pays his taxes through a tax id number since he doesn’t have a social security number. In this instance of the episode, I think it tries to show that people living undocumented not only sneak through the borders, some even own companies that employ USA citizens. They participate in building the economy by paying taxes and creating employment. Two of Ron’s children are born in the USA while one was born in Israel. Brad states that they need people to better the economy and society, and he worries that he might lose an essential partner who will affect his business.

Alejandra’s family is another family that the first episode focuses on. She is a wife to a USA military and a mother of two daughters. She came from Mexico in 1998. She was required to check with the ICE regularly for the last five years. The ICE notified her that she has been slated for deportation following trump’s election result, and was scheduled to be deported two months ago. Her childhood was threatened in Mexico, and she gives one instance where she was robbed and when she reported the matter to the authority, the man who robbed her came and told her that one police said to him that she had reported him. In my view, I think law enforcement in some countries is one of the reasons that promote immigration to the USA. When she came to the USA, she was arrested and deported but managed too illegally migrate in violating the law by Clinton’s government. Therefore, even though she is married to a military and a citizen of the USA, she can’t be granted citizenship. This episode ends as Luiz, and Kenia’s attorney prays.

In conclusion, statistics show that in early 2019 there were more immigrants, most of them being women and children looking for asylum after freeing instabilities and violence in Central America. Even though the government must respect human rights, people also should follow proper procedures while migrating. The ICE should