Sanctuary's Daughter

When did you know the film was finished?

Very good question.  We weren't sure -- when does the story end?  Especially when immigration reform has taken such a back seat in the Obama Administration.  So we weren't really sure when the right moment was, however Anabella had the opportunity to go to Washington, DC and be part of this immigration march ironically the same day the health care reform bill was signed.  She got to meet with her representative.  We used the trip to DC as the climax of the film to show how much she's grown as a young woman.  So we think we have a sense of an ending, although Yolanda's situation is not resolved and there's no guarantee it will ever be resolved.  So her story will continue, there is no resolution. 

How did making this film affect your thoughts about immigration reform?

We need comprehensive immigration reform. Perhaps there are people that are in Yolanda's situation that need to be separated out from the 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country.  I would hope we could say, let's stop separating families, that's not helping anybody, that's not good for anybody. I hope that one of the outcomes of this film is that it will get people talking about the issue because it is urgent.  It is separating families, right now, today.  Time is of the essence.  I'm hoping Obama will push forward and make this a legislative priority.  It's really a broken system in our county where 12 million people have no path to become legal in this country.  They're good members of society, they're members of churches, they pay taxes, they're involved, they're such a big part of our life.  It's such an injustice to provide no hope, let alone a path to citizenship in this country.

You plan to distribute this film widely to faith communities.  What is the hoped outcome of that? 

We hope it brings up the tough questions of what is the role of the faith communities and churches in terms of Jesus' example of radical hospitality.  What should we be doing as people of faith?  I hope this process takes the story beyond our little liberal, progressive church in downtown LA, and that people of faith across the country will use it to get a dialogue going about what should be done, what can be done, what we should be doing as people of faith.

How has making this film impacted your own faith journey?  

It's definitely been an interesting journey for me.  It's been very lonely for Yolanda and Anabella and depressing for all of us at times.  I've struggled with what the role of Christians is in all of this. I really like to see the church on the forefront of justice issues and taking the lead on these issues -- that feels right.   

I come from a really fundamentalist and evangelical background and it's been interesting showing the trailer to my family and friends.  It never dawned on some of them that this could be happening in their community.  I've been so excited to see people become aware and compassionate about this issue. 

What would you say to other Christians who, while agreeing that there is a biblical imperative to welcome the stranger, believe strongly that there is also an imperative to not break the law?

What's become clear to me through this is that when man's laws take precedent over God's law -- for example, God's law of a family staying together and parents being able to stay with their children -- when the laws of the land deny that and when the laws of the land are unjust and don't allow any options, we as people of faith cannot sit back and say they should just obey the law.  The problem is, the law is broken; the law is not working.  I feel like everybody on every side of the spectrum would agree with me on that.  And then I would talk about this sub-group of people who have been long-time residents of this country, with no criminal activity, who are upstanding members of society and who have close relatives who are American and would face tremendous hardship if they would go back to their country of origin. 

I've thought about showing this film to a group of evangelical youth and how I'd set it up for them.   I think I'd say, imagine how hungry you'd have to be, how hard your life would need to be to leave your house right now, this country, to sneak into another country where you don't know anybody, or the language and it's going to set you back years.  Put yourself in those shoes.  People that have come here out of sheer poverty, left situations of violence, hunger...so I'd want them to imagine such a choice.  They're not coming here to vacation.  People forget too that Jesus was an immigrant.  He fled through Egypt for a couple of years with his parents.  He was the stranger in a foreign land.