IMMIGRATION BATTLE/REASONS TO BELIEVE

Why has it been so hard for Washington to fix America's broken immigration system?

Go behind closed doors in Washington's corridors of power to explore the political realities surrounding one of the country's most pressing and divisive issues. This production was initially launched to chronicle what Washington insiders were calling “The Happy Ending”, as a capstone to the seven year story of struggle in How Democracy Works Now. The actual documentary that resulted, Immigration Battle, instead revealed the start of a whole new chapter in the nation’s 21st-century fight over immigration.

From the New York Film Festival -

“Michael Camerini and Shari Robertson have been chronicling the protracted struggle for American immigration reform over the past 16 years, crossing the country numerous times to film politicians and activists on both sides of this great and divisive issue.

They gained unprecedented fly-on-the-wall access to the key players in Washington as they rode the momentum toward the passage of a bipartisan bill, only to see it shot down, which meant that they had to begin pushing the boulder back up the hill all over again.

Two years ago, NYFF51 screened Camerini and Robertson’s series of immigration films, How Democracy Works, and now we present Immigration Battle, their final film on the subject.

The key player this time is Democrat Luis Gutiérrez, the charismatic U.S. Representative for the 4th congressional district of Illinois, who negotiates his way through this political minefield—past an obstructionist majority playing to an anti-immigrant base and a President who has just been dubbed the “Deporter-in-Chief” by the pro-reform community.”

- Kent Jones, Festival Director