La Americana

Last night I went to see a documentary. I thought the documentary was a fun one until a friend pointed out that this documentary shall be quite depressing. I adjusted my expectation. I adjusted it right before I took off for the movie. The move was played at Stanford. You can imagine all the settings are quite cozy (school style) which is what I like. The movie was about a single Bolivian mom. At the time the film started, she was 33. She said at the beginning of the film that she would never have come to NYC if not for her daughter. She does not think she is a good mom. She has an ailed daughter who relies on a wheelchair to move her from places to places. She loves her daughter. To get a better treatment for her ailed daughter, she needs more money. She knew she would not get much in Bolivia. The only way to get money quickly was to go to the US. The solution seemed clear to her, however, going there meant that she had to leave her home, her friends, her family, her daughter, her job, and her mom. She tried to apply a tourist Visa but got rejected. So she decided to take the risky way - illegal entrance. She flew to Mexico, hid in a small trunk of a coupe, and entered the US from the Mexico-US border. She described the illegal entrance vividly. She barely breathed and felt almost dead in the line for Custom inspection. She thought she would fail. She thought the officer would have seen her. But she got through successfully thanks to a chubby girl sitting on top of her. She flew to NY. She took multiple jobs: cleaning lady for shops, cleaning lady for houses, nanny for kids, dog walker, and elder helper. She always tried to buy time. She hopped to the subway and bus. She worked and worked. She was so motivated - for her daughter. Due to her illegal stay, she could not go back to see her daughter. If she goes back, then she will have a ten year penalty. She will not be allowed to enter until the penalty ends. To earn more money, she gave up her world. She had been working as an illegal worker at NY for six years. Audience saw the talks between her and her daughter on the phone. She said once she asked her daughter what Christmas gift she wanted and her daughter replied she wanted her mom to come back. Even though she missed her daughter so much, she kept staying in NY. Why? Because she wanted to earn more money to ensure her daughter will have enough money at later time in her life. She met a Bolivian guy. Similar to her, the guy gave up his world as a travel agent in Bolivia and his family and came to NY. Why? Because he believes American Dream. This land has more opportunities. In the progress of the film, the audience witnessed the controversial Congress bill about legalizing the illegal immigrants. The bill wanted to open up an opportunity for illegal immigrants. All illegal immigrants could start working toward the citizenship as long as they have been staying in US for more than five years. The mom talked about her point of view. She even thought about getting the citizenship through marriage. Nonetheless, due to her illegal entrance, she didn't have this privilege. She regretted to entering illegally. She talked to her interviewer that she wanted to go back to Bolivia for her daughter's 15 birthday. She said her daughter was 9 when she left. She missed her daughter's growing up. She felt sad about it. She said when she arrived, she told herself she would go back for her daughter's birthday. Now the birthday was approaching. She wanted to keep her words. Of course this decision took a price - cutting off her finance source and leaving her lover. One side was her daughter and the desire to see her daughter and the other side was her daughter's future and her lover. Without sufficient capital, her daughter will not get a good care from licensed medical professionals and not able to live comfortably if one day she has to live by herself. Quite a dilemma. The mom decided to go back. Among the very last things, she went to see the Statue of Liberty that was always on her list to visit. The mom spent some time reading the carved words on the board before the statue. She didn't believe the words. Her eyes were wet. She said the reality was not like what the words stated. This land needs illegal immigrants to do jobs for them, however, this land also eliminates the opportunity for illegal immigrants (the bill). She said she was not a threat to anyone and yet this land treated her as a threat. She said the American Dream and liberty not there. She said this statue was just a symbol. The scene went to Bolivia. Her daughter was thrilled to see her return. They went to various stores to prepare her daughter's birthday. Once the birthday passed, audience started seeing the reality. The Bolivia medical system, infrastructure, living condition of the family, and struggles this family faced. After seven months, the mom spoke out loud that she started to regret returning to Bolivia. The daily wage she got was less than ten dollars. But her daughter's diapers cost her hundred dollars a year and each medical visit cost her five dollars. She realized a doctor had broken her daughter's hip by careless deeds. She was upset and yet not much she could do. She went to many places to see if any one can help heal the hip with reasonable price. The life was tough. In the last scene, the mom talked about "God bless America" and "Who is American". She said in every speech made from Bush she heard the first phrase. She wondered what this meant. She said this land only admits "Americans are those who were born here". But it was true under her definition. She said she is an American. She was born in Bolivia and Bolivia is in the American continent. So why she is not viewed by America as American? It is a radical question.