Immigration is a national issue this election year, but it plays out daily in the lives of people in communities across the country. HOMELAND: IMMIGRATION IN AMERICA, a three-part series, presents stories of immigrants — legal and illegal — and those who confront them, help them, employ them and craft legislation that affects them. Ray Suarez, senior correspondent for the PBS NEWSHOUR, narrates.
Immigration is one of the most polarizing issues facing America today. It’s a story of new immigrants who find themselves walking a fine line between access to and expulsion from the American dream. It’s also a story of American citizens who wonder if legal and illegal immigrants threaten their way of life. These intertwined and complex issues may have a significant effect on the choices people make when they go to the polls in November.
Community Voices
These videos were created by Nine Academy students to focus on community interest in immigration issues.
HOMELAND reveals the complex economic, political, personal and cultural dilemmas that are often portrayed as simple choices of right or wrong, legal or illegal. Immigration is not just a short-term border state issue; it is a national and local issue with long-term consequences for communities and the nation as a whole.
Said Jack Galmiche, president and CEO of Nine Network, the producer, “We are a nation of immigrants, but issues of immigration are dividing our country. We hope the HOMELAND documentary will help lead to better understanding and productive dialogue.”
HOMELAND travels to small towns and big cities that are dealing with immigration, towns such as tiny Monett, Missouri, where immigrants fuel the poultry processing industry. The series also meets with experts around the country, from Los Angeles, where UCLA professor Abel Valenzuela talks about the impact of immigrant labor, to Washington, D.C., where policy-makers wrestle with the concerns of humanitarian, political and business interests.
Among those interviewed are Michael Chertoff, former secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush; former governor and U.N. ambassador Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico); Juan Williams, political analyst, FOX News; Edward Alden, senior fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; and Sasha Chanoff, executive director, Mapendo International, an organization dedicated to refugee rescue, relief and resettlement in Africa and the U.S.
"Jobs" airs Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at 11 p.m. - The first episode looks at the spectrum of immigrant jobs and the complex maze of rules, regulations, caps and quotas challenging the country at many levels.
"Enforcement" airs Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 11 p.m. - Cut through the heated rhetoric to explore how communities and the nation struggle to enforce inconsistent immigration policies. One story explains why two Kansas City beat cops have adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy toward legal status, knowing that aggressive enforcement threatens to break community trust when illegal and legal immigrants live side by side, often in the same family.
"Refugees" airs Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 11 p.m. - The third part of the series takes viewers to the heart of America’s humanitarian position as a refuge for those fleeing violence, disaster, war and persecution around the world. The stories in this hour illustrate the forces and factors that can lead refugees to a life of stability and success or to isolation, welfare and homelessness.
Watch Jobs on PBS. See more from Homeland: Immigration in America.
Watch Enforcement on PBS. See more from Homeland: Immigration in America.
Watch Refugees on PBS. See more from Homeland: Immigration in America.
