Cochise County USA: Cries from the Border (2005)

• 48%
• 2005
• Documentary
• Mercedes Maharis

A documentary film focused on the real life impact of illegal immigration to border communities. Documents this national tragedy and its demoralizing effect on an otherwise quiet rural community in Arizona. Though home to only 130,000 permanent residents, Cochise County has now become "Ground Zero" for the illegal immigration invasion. It is estimated that as many as one million illegal immigrants annually use the border here as the primary crossing point into the United States. This film highlights the reality of the cultural clashes and the escalating danger that the human and drug trafficking leaves in its wake. Through interviews with elected officials, residents, border patrol, activists, volunteer civil defense, and even the immigrants themselves, first hand accounts reveal the frustration and abandonment of a failed national policy. Includes footage of border crossings and scenes of those left for dead.