Film

The Unwanted

Director

José Luis Ruiz

Year

1975

“They come in search of the American Dream, only to find they have become the unwanted,” begins this groundbreaking television documentary on the troubles faced by Latino immigrants in the United States. Amid calls for broader governmental reform of the immigration process, the film focuses on human roles in the everyday drama, casting immigrants’ plight as powerless political pawns in a game that exploits undocumented migrants’ labor while criminalizing them at the same time. As Pablo, Gabriel and Yolanda Lopez and the Garcia family seek to improve their livelihood in a new country, away from economic troubles at home, they face repeated profiling, raids and deportation by border patrol and immigration enforcement officers, creating a revolving door of frustration for all involved.