(End of) Day 2 of Border Course in El Paso: Film Discussion of Crossing Arizona

There are several really wonderful documentary films that have been made regarding immigration law.  At least two that come to mind are: Golden Venture and 9500 Liberty.  When I teach immigration law, I typically show clips from these films to underscore the human stories that tend to get marginalized in discussions about cases, laws and policies. 

Another outstanding immigration-related film is Crossing Arizona. This film features various perspectives of people whose lives have been affected by immigration law enforcement. Using interviews of migrants, human rights advocates, Minutemen, ranchers, border patrol agents, and employers, Crossing Arizona highlights the compelling views of different groups regarding stricter enforcement of immigration law at the border.

I raise it here because we ended Monday’s session of the course on immigration law at the border in El Paso, TX by showing portions of Crossing Arizona. As I explained in a previous post, Monday’s program focused on case law analysis of U.S. v. Brignoni-Ponce and progeny as well as a tour of the border. Crossing Arizona provided additional context to what we focused in class today. Notably, the film helped to launch discussion among the students regarding ways of improving immigration law. 

RCV