Documentary depicts life in migrant camps

By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer
North County Times
January 27, 2007

CARLSBAD ---- A documentary film about the plight of people living in North County's migrant camps is scheduled to be screened Sunday at Carlsbad's Pilgrim United Church of Christ.

"The Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon," is the work of San Diego native John Carlos Frey, who spent more than a year visiting and interviewing migrant workers in the area. Frey said he felt compelled to document the lives of the workers because very little was known about them through the media.

The makeshift camps at McGonigle Canyon near Rancho Penasquitos and others around North County have been the focus of debate and protests recently. Immigrant rights activists often clash with city officials, who remove migrants' huts without offering them alternative places to go.

Local residents and anti-illegal immigration activists say the camps are health and fire hazards inhabited by illegal immigrants.

Though activists on both sides of the protests are routinely interviewed in the local and national media, seldom does anyone talk to the migrant workers themselves, Frey said.

"I made it for one particular reason and that's to give a voice to the voiceless," Frey said.

Though he grew up in San Diego only a few miles away from the border, Frey, 42-year-old former actor who lives in Los Angeles, said he had never heard about the migrant camps until recently.

After media reports about living conditions in the camps, Frey said he decided to see for himself. What he saw both shocked and amazed him, he said.

"I was honestly floored and I mean that in a negative sense," he said. "It was quite a contrast to see the shacks next to multi-million-dollar homes. And it wasn't just a few of them, it was shack, after shack, after shack."

The 73-minute documentary focuses on the lives of a handful of illegal immigrant workers he befriended. He filmed the workers in the camps, going to work and attending service at a makeshift chapel at the bottom of the canyon.

Frey said he intentionally avoided interviewing people outside the canyon and the political debate over immigration.

"I didn't want to leave the canyon. Most of the press covers the immigration" aspects of their story. Frey said. "And we don't know who they are. ... They are not terrorists. They are not robbers or rapists. They are devout. They are generous. They have a great sense of humor and a great sense of integrity."

Recently, a TV report painted a different picture of the McGonigle Canyon migrant camps. The report showed video of alleged prostitutes and men drinking.

The story prompted activists and residents to stage a protest and pressure city officials to close the camps.

As a result, many of the camps were dismantled and the chapel was removed. Frey said he filmed the small altar being torn down by volunteers earlier this month. He is editing the video to release it in the coming months, he said.

Barbara Froseth Perrigo, a member of the Pilgrim church and a migrant workers' rights activist, said she got the idea to screen the movie at the church when she saw it at the University of San Diego last year.

"It was very powerful," she said. "We're very excited to show this film. We're excited that he will be there."

Pilgrim Church is at 2020 Chestnut Ave. in Carlsbad. The screening starts at noon Sunday with a brief discussion after the film.

Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-3511 or esifuentes@nctimes.com.

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/01 ... _26_07.txt

Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.

Village Idiot wrote on January 27, 2007 3:39 AM:"Thanks Ed for setting us all straight and showing us how wonderful this is. I am cured of my mistaken beliefs that illegals are illegal. I am now sure that these camps are just gatherings of the faithful. Maybe I will go there and worship the wonder of it all! Better yet maybe I will become a coyote and help this amazing phenomenon! The wonder and vibrancy of it all just makes me ecstatic! Praise the Lord. It's powerful alright! Amen. "

To Mr. Frey wrote on January 27, 2007 4:38 AM:"THEY ARE ILLEGALS!!!!!!!!!!!!! they broke our laws. I don't care how sweet, devout, whatever they are... AGAIN THEY ARE ILLEGALS. THEY MUST LEAVE OUR CANYONS AND OUR COUNTRY. Let them take your bleeding heart documentary with them. "

(Skip) Don't Blame The Immigrants wrote on January 27, 2007 7:14 AM:"I am sure that Mr. Alvarado just wanted a better life for him and his family. It was just an accident, and Mr. Alvarado did what any other person who would do if he is in this country Illegally: he fled the scene of an accident. Mr. Alvarado knew that if he had stuck around to exchange insurance information, or to help with any injured people that he would be discovered and possibly deported. Mr. Alvarado now has a family with 3 children (Anchor babies?) and he could not let this accident jeopardize their well-being. So you see, that when Mr. Alvarado then had the second accident it really was not his fault. The fact that innocent people were killed should not be held against him, as there were no drugs or alcohol involved. Mr. Alvarado like millions of other Illegal Aliens in this country just want a better life for their families. They cannot bother with American Laws and Customs, as they just get in their way. Mr. Alvarado will now spend the next 4 years in jail, and his American born children will get plenty of welfare and subsidies from the California Taxpayers. If Mr. Alvarado is lucky he will be let out of prison early due to overcrowding because 1/3 or more of California prisoners are Illegal Aliens. So you all see it was not Mr. Alvarado's fault. Don't be so harsh on this family man. Oh and I am sure that after Mr. Alvarado is let out of prison, and deported, he can be back in this country in a week or so, and have a new identity and start all over again. http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/01 ... _25_07.txt"

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