Dennis Lynch, the director of a provocative documentary about illegal immigration, led a brief but spirited discussion last night in the Washington suburb of Rockville, Md.
First came the 100-minute film, They Come to America, which is decidedly against illegal immigration but also respectful of the issue's complexity and mindful of its swirling human cross currents. Its main characters are Americans upset by illegal immigration and a young Latin American man who works as a day laborer on Long Island, N.Y.
Here's a quick look at the main characters, followed by a summary of the discussion.
Sam. Identified as an unemployed contractor, Sam is angry about losing work to illegal immigrants who have flooded into his community. Carrying an American flag, he conducts a one-man protest across the street from a convenience store where the illegal workers wait for contractors to hire them.
Dennis Lynch. Struck by Sam's story, he resolves to expand that encounter into a full-blown documentary. He turns his camera on the illegal immigrants and their advocates, but especially on Americans who feel overwhelmed by their presence. He gives considerable attention to Roy Beck of NumbersUSA and Jack Martin of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Then he travels to the Arizona border, talking with Americans whose high-desert range has become the entry point for much of the influx. (Several of the Arizonans, much of the Cochise County landscape, and some of the footage of illegal border-crossers appear in a 2010 video produced by CIS two years ago, Gaming the Border.)
Mauricio. With a warm smile and a lovely wife and infant child, Mauricio is a hard worker with a dream of making a life in the United States. Lynch befriends him, recognizing the classic story of immigrant striving. But the friendship is undercut by the fact of illegality and by Maurico's acknowledgement that he takes work from Americans because he works far more cheaply. Mauricio's family pays $800 a month to rent a single room in a house occupied by seven others, presumably also illegal immigrants. Their living conditions are part of the story, as are the repercussions for the local job market, schools, hospitals, and the psyches of the natives.
After showing the film at the Rockville library, Lynch started the discussion by welcoming the young protesters, some of whom put tape over their mouths while others — with a defiance that was admirable for its calm civility — declared that they are in the United States illegally. Lynch conceded their point that his film failed to acknowledge that illegal immigrants come from many parts of the world other than Latin America. He apologized and said he would like to collect new footage to illustrate their point.
Then, when a young woman protester called him a racist, Lynch deftly calmed the incipient anger of the audience. In a way that was simplistic but admirable in its apparent sincerity, he said he wanted to encourage discussion in the hope that informed citizens would mobilize to pressure their elected leaders to solve the problem. Lynch himself offered no solution.
But he did offer a provocative film. And at the end of the evening he welcomed the presence of a young Latino man — who afterwards told me he is a legal immigrant from Colombia — who declared his love for the United States and his pride in being a part of this country. The discussion was far too brief, cut short by the need to vacate the room. But it was valuable. Lynch is continuing it on a nationwide tour of the film.