Film heats up immigration debate

• Chris Simcox, the leader of Civil Homeland Defense and founder of the Minuteman Project, who sits with the armed citizen group near the border, waiting to turn illegal immigrants in to the Border Patrol.

• Douglas, Ariz., Mayor Ray Borane, who daily sees the impacts on his town from illegal immigration and criticizes current border policy.

"It's the same old, same old enforcement at the border and that's not going to work, it's not going to get it. The solution lies in something different. It's diplomatic and political," Borane said.

At its premiere, the film elicited a heated political debate from filmgoers — members of the Utah Minutemen. Some were invited to the movie; a handful protested outside the theater.

"As a documentary, the film was a fake," said Russell Sias, a Provo resident, co-chairman of Utahns for Immigration Reform and Enforcement (UFIRE) and a member of the Utah Minuteman, who spent a winter patrolling the borders. "A documentary, to me, has to present all sides of an issue. That film only presented one. It was designed to pluck at your heartstrings and say, 'Oh, those poor abused people, we need to help them.' No, we don't.

"Dying in the desert is not a just penalty for breaking our laws. But they (immigrants) took that risk."

The film's debut in Utah comes in the midst of numerous local hot-button immigration issues, including two bills being considered by the Utah Legislature. HB64 repeals driver privilege cards and HB7 appeals in-state tuition for some undocumented immigrants. There is also a fair housing lawsuit pending against Summit County that alleges the county isn't providing affordable housing for minorities.

Director Mathew knew the story was controversial, but it urgently needed to be told, he said. The humanitarian crisis was what drew him in. It was an issue he wanted to have a face (and film) for the public to see — especially, he said, when the prevailing viewpoint shown in the media is that of the Minutemen.

"You find more and more women and children crossing the border," he said. "It's this whole snowballing crisis that is getting worse."

Producer and editor Dan DeVivo found it important to include clips of the wide-ranging relevance, such as the recent George W. Bush and John Kerry presidential debates surrounding immigration.

"These are issues that are not only important in Arizona, they are on a national stage," he said of the film.

DeVivo said the discussion boils down to being a good neighbor. The film argues America has hurt the Mexican farming industry through current NAFTA trading policies. And while he said a country has a right to defend its borders, "The question our film asks is: 'Do we have any sort of moral obligation for our neighbor?' We have a moral obligation to make sure their people get here without dying."

Two other festival films also focus on illegal immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border: Tin Dirdamal's documentary "DeNADIE" and Pablo Veliz's drama "La Tragedia de Macario." "Crossing Arizona" will screen again in Park City on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in the Prospector Square Theater and Friday at 3:15 p.m. in the Holiday Village Cinema.

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