There are approximately 14.3 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, hiding in plain sight. They work "off the books" generally in manual labor jobs. Many of them came here with their parents as infants and toddlers and go to school as undocumented individuals. Our country is divided as to whether or not to allow them to stay here or to be deported back to their home countries. In 2003, the federal government created the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) to find and detain these illegal immigrants. Over the past seventeen years, the agency has been met with negative publicity more than once and now the critically acclaimed docu-drama, The Infiltrators, is being released to tell the real-life stories of some of these immigrants.
Claudio Rojas (Manuel Uriza; Rambo: Last Blood) is taken from his home and family without warning and placed in the Broward Transitional Center to await deportation, despite the fact that he has visa paperwork being processed. His family, desperate to get him out, enlists the help of the National Immigrant Youth Alliance NIYA) made up of a group of DREAMers who are trying to stop unjust deportations. In an attempt to help Claudio and gather information, one of the DREAMers, Marco (Maynor Alvarado; FBI), purposely gets himself detained in the same center as Claudio.
Once inside Marco not only reaches out to Claudio but a number of other detainees letting them know that they can call NIYA to try and help stop their deportation. Of course, all this must be done covertly. When Marco realizes there is also a female section of the detention center, NIYA also sends in another DREAMer, Viri (Chelsea Rendon; Bright) to get the female detainees involved. However, Marco and Viri are eventually found out and kicked out of the detention center but not before they create turmoil both inside and out of the center.
Directors Cristina Ibarra (Las Marthas) and Alex Rivera (Sleep Dealers) take a unique approach to telling this story, which ultimately helps to get the audience invested in the characters and the subject matter. If you have ever seen MARS on the National Geographic Channel, you know the format of the show is to have a television drama series interspersed with documentary scenes dealing with real-life technologies and facts. The Infiltrators do much of the same, creating re-enactments of what Claudio, Marco, Viri, and all the immigrants had gone through while also speaking to the real-life individuals that the story is based upon. This unique style helps the viewer put a real person's face on what most Americans think of as just "a story". This technique serves as a wakeup call to anyone who watches it that These aren't just stories but real-life scenarios happening to real families throughout this Country.
Unfortunately, the real Claudio was detained just before he was supposed to appear at the film's Florida opening at the Miami Film Festival in March 2019 and was departed less than a month later. The NIYA is still fighting the unjust detainment and terrible conditions in these for-profit detention centers. The Infiltrators shed light on a situation few outside the world of immigration knew about and earned awards at their world debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019.
While a controversial film for certain, The Infiltrators is as daring and unique as the NIYA and the immigrants are themselves. It offers insight into what is going on in this country with immigration and ICE and worth an hour and a half of your time.
Grade: A-
