Customer Reviews

Cochise County USA - Cries from the Border (2005)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just got this viedo today and was amazed by this documentary. This is the story that's not being told in the mass media. This is the story of the people who live by the border and see what is happening. This is the story that the rest of America needs to see and hear.

The single most decent thing about this documentary is that it is neither left nor right. Mercedes takes an honest look at what people in the United States are living with daily and does it in an interesting way. From the violence of break ins to the drug runners, this is an honest view from a great film maker. Missing is the usual racist slant many open border folks seem to chant.
Thank you Mercedes for a fine movie and finally showing the truth about how we Cochise County citizens truly live.

John F Petrello III
Whetstone Arizona

I just watched "Cries from the Border" yesterday. I think that anyone who is interested in the issue of border security must watch it. I wish I could make George W. Bush, Ted Kennedy, and John McCain, the leading advocates of the "path to citizenship" (i.e. amnesty for illegal aliens), watch the film. Because if they did watch and didn't just reject it as propaganda, they might realize that whatever the US might do with the 12 million illegal aliens wandering the US, we have to restore control of our nation's southern border.

Something tells me that if Bush's ranch in Crawford, the Kennedy compound in Massachusetts, or wherever McCain considers home in Arizona were transit points for hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens sneaking into the USA, those worthy gentlemen wouldn't be so eager to enact legislation that will inevitably lead to millions more flooding across our borders in years to come.

This film really shows the cost of illegal immigration: the cost of the social services that illegals get, the assaults on US Border Patrol Officers (the film shows clips of Mexicans hurling rocks at them), the lonely deaths of illegals in the desert, and the trash strewn across what used to be beautiful landscapes.

I felt sad also because I used to live in Cochise County. I was twice stationed at Fort Huachuca when I was in the Army. I used to think that I might retire down there. But I know now that I never will. I could never put up with what American citizens have to put up with down there.

I can only hope that come November, the Republicans lose the House and maybe some Senate seats as well over this issue. Maybe then, the Republicans (I have no hopes for the Democrats on this) will wake up and sense the mood of the nation which is BORDER SECURITY FIRST!

I was very impressed by the objective treatment of the illegal immigrant situation on the Arizona Border. As a Southern Arizona resident, I've seen both sides of the issue first hand. If you are concerned about the border, you will likely find this movie to be informative. It portrays both sides, pro and con of stricter enforcement vs. amnesty.

Most importantly, it portrays the human element. Everyone along the border is affected by the debate. Debate if you will, humans (families, children, business owners) and the environment (range land, recreation areas) are being affected. Long time residents of border towns are fearful because of the limited support they have for security and the damage to property of litter that the constant people trafficing causes. Many individuals and groups are concerned about the health and safety of those crossing into the US. Either way, safety, health problems and, of course, money are all issues presented in the forefront in this film.

Cries from the Border portrays these concerns in sympathy (and objectively) for both sides. I recommend this movie for anyone who wishes to present an informed debate about the critical issues of border security. It informs realistically and gives insight into how critical this issue is to all of us.

As a bilingual family with European-Mexican origins that lives less than one mile from the Mexican/US border we feel that the documentary, "Cochise County USA", was quite accurately presented. On a topic that seems to arouse such intense emotions and racism on both sides of the issure it was refreshing to see a sensitive, intelligent and balanced report without the hysteria and rancor so often demonstrated on the News Programs. Wallace & Rosa Cooper, Douglas, AZ

Riveting!!! I just spent 7 weeks in Sierra Vista, Arizona. While I was there there were 3 incidents of Illegal Aliens (they're NOT Immigrants, they didn't apply for Visas) running through the US Army Post at Fort Hauchuca. This is one of our important Military installations. The Border Patrol is all over this place, yet they still come through the area. I can see why the local ranchers are up in arms. These people Illegally come here, have no respect for other peoples property, are ill prepared for the desert and so far, as of June 15, 2006, 95 have perished from lack of water, being disoriented and walking in circles in the desert. The Border patrol carries water, soft drinks and sandwiches and once they gather up as many as they can carry in their vehicles, they feed them. I didn't see once any inhumane treatment of an individual. These trouble making lefties from California come out there and deliberately get in the way of the Border patrol and private citizens trying to discourage, stop and turn back the Illegal Border incursions. The video allows the lefties their say on the manner, but they just prove the Rancher's point. This is AMERICA and WE have LAWS and LEGAL Immigration is part of a plan for the Nation. The Leftie plan is to break down the American system and way of life and turn US ALL into slaves of Communism. Open Your eyes, see them for who they are. THE ALCU (ANTI-AMERICAN LIBERAL COMMUNIST UNION)is using our Judicial system to tear down the country. GREAT DOCUMENTARY!!!

We lived in the area where this documentary was filmed, and found it to be both accurate and informative. The author was very fair in showing both sides of the issue. However, as former residents in Sierra Vista, AZ, we feel more of the negative impact of illegal immigrants could have been emphasized. There is nothing good about this issue, and we feel sorry for poor people seeking a better life. But, the damage done in every aspect of American life is enormous, and must be stressed at every opportunity! Those not living on the border need to be made aware of what is happening there and elsewhere in our country because of our porous borders!

The way the issue of unauthorized immigration is being framed is an intentional misdirection. The corporatocracy that wrote the devastating "free" trade policies has been invading the Global South for years The Corporation. The economic refugee crisis that has ensued from NAFTA and privatization schemes is a symptom of the root problem that needs to be addressed with Fair Trade Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival, resistance to neoliberalism The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, protection for local economies Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism, and respect for the rights of campesinos and indigenous communities The Fourth World War.

The elite are pitting working class people against each other, and fostering ultranationalism to make money off of the militarization of the border. Boeing, Northrop Grumman and other weapons makers have received massive amounts of our tax dollars (Why We Fight) to build the hi-tech wall that many immigrants will simply fly over. That is, people with work and travel visas will simply overstay their visas, as almost half of "illegals" have been doing already.

Keeping an army of undocumented laborers makes them vulnerable to punishment when they try to organize and bring up wages in various sectors of the economy; as some migrant workers are trying to do Organizing Immigrants: The Challenge for Unions in Contemporary California (ILR Press books).

As corporate executives work together across borders and nationalities, the general public needs to do the same. It's time to transform corporate globalization into a globalization of democracy.
Bordertown
No One Is Illegal: Fighting Racism and State Violence on the U.S.-Mexico Border
"They Take Our Jobs!": and 20 Other Myths about Immigration
See also Bob Kincaid's radio show for a more nuanced discussion of this and other issues, and beware of emotionally potent oversimplifications.

This is an excellent documentary on the current border problems facing the United States. We cannot continue this way. Decisions will have to be made in the very near future (so we may have a future), and the decisions will have to be made by all Americans for the benefit of the United States; unless, of course, you wish to go the way Rome did!!! (as in, down the tubes!!!)

Given all of the concern about the easy access that illegal immigrants have to our southern borders, I had hoped that this documentary would lay out the reality in stark terms. I was disappointed. Essentially, in the course of this 69-minute video, you meet a series of people who have a stake in the ongoing border wars; each speaks freely about their opinions. Yet, there simply aren't any visual or statistical facts to support their contentions. Clearly, our borders are a disaster. Yet, this well intentioned documentary simply doesn't tell the story with any force. It merely provides comfort to those who feel we need to do a far better job of securing our borders, without the necessary 'meat' to support that point of view.