Government

DACAmented: The Documentary

“I grew up in a neighborhood in DC often known as ‘Little Central America’ and I went to middle and high school with immigrants from all over the world, several of whom were undocumented,” notes filmmaker St. Clair Detrick-Jules, “so when DACA was rescinded, I knew my community would be affected, and I knew I had to do something to

Rhode Island News: <i>DACAmented</i>: The Documentary

December 10, 2017, 1:09 am

By Steve Ahlquist

“I grew up in a neighborhood in DC often known as ‘Little Central America’ and I went to middle and high school with immigrants from all over the world, several of whom were undocumented,” notes filmmaker St. Clair Detrick-Jules, “so when DACA was rescinded, I knew my community would be affected, and I knew I had to do something to help.”

A Brown University senior and Washington, DC native, Detrick-Jules released her latest short film, DACAmented, “a 36-minute documentary which follows the the day-to-day lives of nine DACA recipients navigating life in the United States as their future in the country they call home hangs in limbo, caught in the crossfires of a fractured government which too often uses immigration as a game of political wins and losses.”

DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, allowed some individuals who entered the United States as minors to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and to be eligible for a work permit. President Donald Trump rescinded DACA in September.

From the press release:

“Among the nine recipients of DACA profiled in DACAmented, from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador, Ecuador, Zambia, South Korea, and Trinidad & Tobago, are six college students, a medical student, a visual artist, and a young woman with Down syndrome unable to access proper treatment and health care due to her immigration status.

“While many advocates of DACA focus on the intellectual and economic contributions of DACA recipients, Detrick-Jules’ documentary takes a humanistic approach: DACA recipients deserve justice simply because they are human beings. DACAmented also encourages discussion about broader immigration reform for the rest of the 11 million undocumented immigrants, as well as for those living in dire conditions abroad hoping to one day find refuge in the United States.”

DACAmented is set to screen in 2018 in collaboration with the DC Afro Latino Caucus.

Here’s a trailer of DACAmented:

Here’s the full-length documentary: