The movie, A Better Life, follows the relationship of a father and son and through their story captures the Mexican immigrant experience in the U.S. The movie begins with a focus on the father, Carlos Galindo and his job as a day laborer. Carlos, an undocumented immigrant, works hard everyday to provide for his son for the hope that his son will be able to have an easier life. Carlos’ son, Luis, does not respect his father 's work and does not value his schoolwork like his father wants. Luis is caught between the pull of his father to be a hardworking man and his friends who are associated with gangs. Carlos works for a man named Blanco who is selling his truck and Carlos buys the truck from Blanco, only to have it stolen by a laborer he hires.
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As the two are searching for the truck, they experience tension in their relationship as they both come from such different generations. Luis has no love for Mexican traditions and is very much Americanized, while his father is still very much invested in his Mexican heritage. The two eventually find the man who stole the truck, but he has already sold it to a junkyard. Carlos and Luis find the truck and steal it from the junkyard, but as they are driving away they are caught by the police. The police arrest Carlos and he is put in jail, while Luis goes to live with his aunt. Since Carlos is undocumented, he is being deported. Before Carlos is deported, he is able to talk to Luis one last time. He tells Luis to work hard at school and Luis begs him to promise he will come back. The movie then skips ahead four months and shows Luis playing on a soccer field with his cousins and Carlos presumably getting ready to cross the border back into the U.S. By following the relationship of a father and son, the movie captures the reality of immigrant family life and the experiences of being undocumented in the …show more content…
Politically, though the general thought is that the U.S. has alway been hard on undocumented immigrants from Mexico, that was not always the case. In fact, though the U.S. enforced quotas on immigrants from places like eastern Europe in the 1920s, for a long time Mexicans were largely excluded from political persecution. However as conditions changed immigration legislation began to change. In 1929, illegal entry into the U.S. became a criminal offense. Years later, as anti-immigration sentiment grew yet again in the 1950s, the U.S. government initiated “Operation Wetback” to deport undocumented immigrants. In this fashion, politically the U.S. attitude towards immigration reflects the times. Economically, the U.S. attitude toward immigration has also been a reflection of the current U.S. labor conditions. Labor interests even often used political influence to allow Mexican immigrants into the U.S.. Illegal immigration was allowed fairly freely until the 1930s, when labor was in short supply because of the Great Depression. Then years later in the post- WWII economic environment, undocumented immigrants were welcomed by laborers, who were able to pay them less and not be concerned with them having rights as citizens. Undocumented immigrants as laborers reflects the economic considerations that determine undocumented immigrant sentiment in the U.S.
As the two are searching for the truck, they experience tension in their relationship as they both come from such different generations. Luis has no love for Mexican traditions and is very much Americanized, while his father is still very much invested in his Mexican heritage. The two eventually find the man who stole the truck, but he has already sold it to a junkyard. Carlos and Luis find the truck and steal it from the junkyard, but as they are driving away they are caught by the police. The police arrest Carlos and he is put in jail, while Luis goes to live with his aunt. Since Carlos is undocumented, he is being deported. Before Carlos is deported, he is able to talk to Luis one last time. He tells Luis to work hard at school and Luis begs him to promise he will come back. The movie then skips ahead four months and shows Luis playing on a soccer field with his cousins and Carlos presumably getting ready to cross the border back into the U.S. By following the relationship of a father and son, the movie captures the reality of immigrant family life and the experiences of being undocumented in the …show more content…
Politically, though the general thought is that the U.S. has alway been hard on undocumented immigrants from Mexico, that was not always the case. In fact, though the U.S. enforced quotas on immigrants from places like eastern Europe in the 1920s, for a long time Mexicans were largely excluded from political persecution. However as conditions changed immigration legislation began to change. In 1929, illegal entry into the U.S. became a criminal offense. Years later, as anti-immigration sentiment grew yet again in the 1950s, the U.S. government initiated “Operation Wetback” to deport undocumented immigrants. In this fashion, politically the U.S. attitude towards immigration reflects the times. Economically, the U.S. attitude toward immigration has also been a reflection of the current U.S. labor conditions. Labor interests even often used political influence to allow Mexican immigrants into the U.S.. Illegal immigration was allowed fairly freely until the 1930s, when labor was in short supply because of the Great Depression. Then years later in the post- WWII economic environment, undocumented immigrants were welcomed by laborers, who were able to pay them less and not be concerned with them having rights as citizens. Undocumented immigrants as laborers reflects the economic considerations that determine undocumented immigrant sentiment in the U.S.