Immigration Nation

This deep access, and the compelling narrative the filmmakers weave out of their footage, makes Immigration Nation the most important documentary Netflix has fronted since Ava DuVernay’s 13TH. Even if it doesn’t convince you that ICE should be abolished, I guarantee you’ll be unsettled watching the agency’s response.

The filmmakers capture ICE as it is ramping up its operations in response to Trump’s election, incisively exploring how Trump’s rhetoric has translated into nuts-and-bolts policy. ... Immigration Nation also tells human stories, where the filmmakers sit down with migrants to hear their particular saga of suffering. Each is like a vortex, lengthening into a dimension of unfathomable personal grief.

“Immigration Nation” provides a damning indictment of the labyrinthe systems that make ICE so powerful, and a wrenching examination of the human cost its policies have wrought. ... What makes “Immigration Nation” so effective beyond its sheer depth of information is how much it lets its subjects and situations speak for themselves.

All six hours of their docuseries overflow with information, from the personal stories of detainees—people like Josué, who migrated with his 3-year-old son, only to be separated by border patrol agents in El Paso, Texas—to data about the exponential growth of ICE and the history of immigration as a wedge issue in politics.

Immigration Nation packs a powerful punch, showing the people affected by the Trump administration’s immigration policy up close. But how you feel about the docuseries will depend on where you fall in the debate.

The directors, who also serve as part of the series' multi-person filming and editing team, build their argument in a way that isn't immediately obvious and occasionally feels protracted, but cinches tighter as the docuseries proceeds.

As taxing to watch as it is, one can appreciate the quality and purposeful vision of the craftsmanship. While there are static interviews, a large portion of the footage was capture as tense situations unfolded. That perpetual immediacy, both with victims and executioners, compels us to grasp the gravity of this moral problem as a whole.