My May Day pro-immigrant activism day began at the AMC theater, just a few blocks from Union Square Park, where I would be rallying later. I saw a special screening of Brian Ging’s film Beyond Borders, hosted by the Tribeca Film Institute and Presented by the New York Immigration Coalition. This documentary film looks at the immigration issue from all sides of the debate. The movie goes across the U.S. and even outside the country, talking to opinion makers and the real people behind the headlines and talking heads. The film really tries to be fair and balanced, featuring Minutemen, Noam Chomsky, and Gustavo Arellano of Ask a Mexican.

For those of us who have been covering the immigration issue for years, the film won’t be anything new, but for those who are new to the immigration movement, or have only been exposed to one side of the rhetoric, the film can be enlightening. I brought my 10 year old daughter with me and she was shocked and scared at learning that an organization like the Minutemen existed (it didn’t help that some of their kind were protesting the protesters at the rally later).

It was also satisfying to hear experts agree with my perspective that the immigration issue has been completely racialized, with illegal immigrant being code word for Latino, specifically Mexican.

For more information on the film visit the Beyond Borders website.

I wish I could have stayed for the Q&A afterwards with the filmmakers but going to a movie with a toddler isn’t always a positive experience for anyone (sorry lady sitting in front of me who changed seats).

Special thanks to Elizabeth Carlton.