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Border documentary cheered at S.D. screening

By Tanya Mannes
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 8, 2006

A documentary that depicts the U.S.-Mexico border as a conduit for crime and drug trafficking made its San Diego debut this week.

Cheered on by a standing-room-only audience in an AMC Mission Valley 20 theater Wednesday night, the film described the porous border as a problem “that no one wants to talk about.”

“Border War: The Battle over Illegal Immigration,” profiles five people, including San Diego resident Enrique Morones. He is the founder of Border Angels, a faith-based volunteer group that leaves food and water in the desert for illegal immigrants crossing the border.

The film emphasizes the ease with which criminals can enter the United States. For example, it includes footage of an underground tunnel in which cartels passed drugs from Mexico to Arizona.

While acknowledging that there are no easy answers, the film calls for stricter policies and better enforcement of existing laws.

That message resonated with some viewers, who clapped when a woman in the film defended her work with the Minutemen, a volunteer group that patrols the border.

The woman, Lupe Moreno, said that when people call her a “vigilante,” she takes it as a compliment because the word means “watchful.”

“Damn right I'm watchful,” she said with a hearty laugh, drawing whoops and applause from the crowd in the theater.

“Border War” was produced by David Bossie, president of Washington, D.C.-based Citizens United. The advocacy group supports stronger border security and opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants.

After the San Diego screening, several viewers said the federal government needs to pay more attention to border issues.

Kay Smith, a lifelong San Diego resident who works in real estate, said she agreed with the film's message.

“I'm against illegal immigration, and I have definite ideas about it,” Smith said.

Larry Green, a member of the Minutemen who attended the film with his wife, Serethia, said the film “didn't go far enough.”

“It just skimmed the surface. It needed to go deeper to see what illegal immigration is costing us, to our schools and hospitals, and how it's changing our culture,” Green said. “I was at Home Depot the other day and I couldn't find a single person who spoke English.”

More than 160 people attended, with several using tickets they won from the Mark Larson Show on NewsRadio 600 KOGO.

The San Diego screening was one of a handful of public showings before the film is released Oct. 10 on DVD. The film premiered in Los Angeles last month.

Some at the San Diego showing criticized the film's portrayals of illegal immigrants for being negative.

Felix Garcia, who was in the audience, said he crossed the border illegally 20 years ago and now is a U.S. citizen. He described the documentary as unbalanced.

“He speak only bad things about us,” Garcia, a salesman, said. “It was offensive for me.”

People entering the theater were met by a dozen protesters from the Border Angels and San Diego Friends of Day Laborers, who held wooden crosses.

One protester, Shannon Dowdy, said the film should have explained economic issues, including free trade, that would have provided insight into why people come to work in the United States.

She said the film portrayed Mexicans negatively.

“It represented them as criminals, rapists and drug dealers, and that is not the reality,” said Dowdy, a child-care worker.

Bossie, who attended the San Diego screening, said in an interview that he wasn't surprised his film generated strong opinions.

“Look, it's a passionate issue, especially in this city,” the producer said.

“I run a conservative organization. We have a point of view,” Bossie said. “I don't hide that point of view.”

Bossie said he hopes the film raises public awareness of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in the way that the TV show “Cops” did for police officers. Specifically, he wants people to appreciate the agents' bravery and dedication to their work.

The film begins with the story of Teri March, a young widow whose husband was gunned down by an illegal immigrant who fled to Mexico to avoid extradition. It also tells the stories of Moreno, who said she was molested as a child by illegal immigrants who stayed with her family; federal agent Jose Maheda, a San Diego native who leads an undercover border patrol unit in Arizona; Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., a proponent of stricter border policies; and San Diegan Morones.

Morones, who attended the San Diego showing, provided one of the few voices in the film sympathetic to border crossers.

“I don't condone this kind of behavior. It's absolutely wrong and it's very dangerous,” he says in the film. “But these are desperate people.”

After he watched the documentary, Morones said the filmmakers included his remarks about Mexico but edited out comments in which he talked about his pride in being an American.

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Tanya Mannes: (619) 498-6639; tanya.mannes@uniontrib.com