Netflix's 'Living Undocumented' tackles hot-button issue with empathy

Netflix's docu-series Living Undocumented follows the stories of eight individuals or families who currently reside in the United States without legal status. Within the first few minutes of its premiere episode, viewers are effectively mocked in the form of a call to action by Awa, one of the featured interviewees.

“You can watch a documentary... but you can turn it off and go about your life,” she explains, speaking to the widespread slacktivism and public negligence surrounding the rampant oppression of undocumented persons by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE).

With that said, it is immediately clear that Living Undocumented isn't an easy watch -- it's a necessary one.

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As each of the interviewees valiantly discloses their immigration status, producers do the heavy lifting of intricately explaining the particulars of obtaining legal status in the United States via commentary from immigration attorneys, former ICE attorneys, and prominent immigration reporters. The six episode series, which was also executive produced in part by Selena Gomez, takes a deep dive into the livelihoods and life stories of one or more members of each of the eight families. In step with the docu-series release, Gomez shared her own story in an op-ed. For their protection, none of the interviewees featured in the series state their full names; some of the undocumented individuals use pseudonyms and don't show their faces on camera.

Living Undocumented is a fantastic, simultaneously educational and emotional learning experience. The series debunks myths, communicates vital narratives, and resoundingly expresses that the deportations and detentions of innocent people are unfair, oppressive, and the result of overwhelmingly complicated bureaucratic processes.

Constructed exclusively via first-person narratives, it confronts the modern-day immigration experience head on. Audience members are face to face with the interviewees as they speak directly to the camera about their experiences, an intentional cinematic technique employed by the show's creators to invoke common understanding. Creators Aaron Saidman and Anna Chai are successful in doing so: after watching, viewers see intimate connections between all of the unique stories shared in the series, and between themselves and the interviewees.

Saidman and Chai were moved to make the docu-series after viewing one of many viral videos that depict raids by officers from ICE capturing and deporting undocumented individuals against their will and without warning. Living Undocumented follows in the footsteps of those sorts of affecting videos as the show's cameras continue rolling during tough-to-watch moments throughout the series, even capturing one of the interviewees immigration attorneys being physically assaulted by ICE agents. As the attorney eloquently notes in the series: If ICE agents will blatantly harm her in front of cameras, imagine what goes on in ICE detention centers behind closed doors.

Notably, the docu-series combats the traditional immigration rhetoric perpetuated by Trump, and the immigration narratives that many are familiar with. More than half of the families or individuals featured in Living Undocumented have lived in the United States for over twenty years, are married to and parents of U.S. citizens, and/or have never even crossed the country's southern border.

Equally important, Living Undocumented makes sure to tell the stories of those who journeyed from Mexico within the past few years, many of whom were held the ICE detention centers decried in the news and separated from their children. Thanks to the diverse set of stories presented in Living Undocumented, its narrative is profoundly comprehensive.

One of the most poignant themes explored in the series is the internalized sense of guilt many of the interviewees feel for illegally crossing the border ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago. Many of the undocumented individuals featured fled their countries of origin with their families because their lives were at immediate risk. Now faced with the prospect of deportation because of their monumental decision, the interviewees expressed remorse and acknowledged what they perceive as a wrong-doing on their part for trying to save themselves and their families.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Through this heartbreaking trend that links many of the narratives featured, the docu-series's key message is heard loud and clear: the United States is one of the only remaining safe havens for the global population. By closing our borders and deporting those who have already crossed them seeking safety, restrictive immigration policies are putting countless lives at risk. Furthermore, by neglecting to exercise discretion when deciding on the fate of the United States' undocumented population, the Trump Administration is putting harrowingly innocent lives at risk as well.

Living Undocumented is now available for streaming on Netflix.