The Other Side of Immigration (2009)

The Other Side of Immigration is a 2010 documentary film directed by Roy Germano that explores why so many people leave the Mexican countryside to work in the United States and what happens to the families and communities they leave behind. The film is based on Germano’s interviews with over 700 households in Mexico, which he carried out while doing Ph.D. research on remittances at the University of Texas at Austin. The Other Side of Immigration is distributed by Team Love Records, a company founded by musician Conor Oberst.

Synopsis

Through interviews with people in Mexican towns where up to half of the population has gone to work in the United States, the first half of the film looks at the social, economic, and political causes of migration from Mexico to the US. The second half of the film looks at the impact of remittances in Mexican communities and the effects of emigration on families. The film concludes with discussion of guest worker programs and other solutions to illegal migration.