10 Dec Immigrants’ rights are human rights
Featured image: Pamela Yates, crew and truth tellers film the initial planning sessions for community truth commissions. Credit: Paco de Onís
We made BORDERLAND | The Line Within as a warning. We believed that exposing how profit is extracted from immigrant suffering could move people to demand change. As Trump was re-elected, the film became something else entirely: a forecast. Its protagonists—immigrants fighting for due process and digital humanists exposing the reach of the border industrial complex—had already traced the contours of what followed: militarized raids, mass deportations, and fear imposed on hundreds of communities nationwide.
At more than 100 screenings and discussions of the film around the U.S., we heard people standing up for human rights and pushing back against the Trump administration’s cruel and inhumane policies. That is why we are embarking on a new film and truth telling project titled BORDERLAND | Underground.
Join us on this quest for truth
BORDERLAND | Underground will be a continuation of what we learned in making and sharing BORDERLAND | The Line Within and addresses the continued need for action.
Drawing on more than 40 years of documentary filmmaking and in partnership with experienced human rights and justice advocates, we have convened a small group of truth tellers to help communities nationwide establish Community Truth Commissions. These hearings will collect testimonies from immigrants, neighbors, business leaders, educators, and more about how the war on immigrants is being used to sow fear, undermine local economies, and dismantle democracy.
BORDERLAND | Underground will document these commissions, creating community archives of testimonies not only for historical memory, but also for accountability. We have seen initiatives like this before in Peru and Guatemala, stories we’ve told in our films, and now it’s time to bring it home.
Skylight is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, and a donation at any level of donation will support this quest for truth and be credited in the film as a Supporter. Donations of $500 will receive a Truth Seeker credit in the film, and if you can donate $1,000 or more you will be credited as a Truth Producer!
Immigrants’ rights are human rights. Human rights are inherent to each of us, they are not privileges to be granted. Join us as we continue to defend human rights for all. We are grateful for this community and we look forward to sharing more about BORDERLAND | Underground with you in the coming months.
