They Come to America I (2011)
The COST of ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION.
While I was making my first film, King of the Hamptons, I encountered an out-of-work contractor standing on the corner of a 7-Eleven store in Southampton, Long Island. He was holding a sign that read: DEPORT ILLEGALS.
Tom Wedell was protesting against the 200 illegal alien workers who crowded together daily. They stood in a mob on the other side of the parking lot, soliciting themselves as day laborers to contractors who had no issue hiring non-English-speaking guys and paying them off-the-books.
Something didn’t feel right to me when seeing Wedell there day after day for years, so I eventually pulled over to ask about his efforts. Tom explained he had lost everything — his wife, kids, and business — all because the contractors he once competed against now made it impossible because they hired illegal workers. Tom would always lose the bids; he was unwilling to break the law, and so he went broke.
I asked why he didn’t hire illegal aliens to remain in business. He went on to say something that would change the trajectory of my professional career, not only in film making but in terms of my political stances. At the time, I was apolitical, without having ever voted in an election. But when Tom said he was fighting for America on that corner, I felt obligated to learn more. He said, “We’ve got guys dying for us right now in Afghanistan; how dare we give away our citizenship like it comes from a Cracker Jack box. If you won’t fight for your country today, when will you?”
Blown away by his passion, I asked how long he had been on the corner. He said, “Eight years.” And he promised that he had no plans on leaving the corner until the illegal workers were sent back to their home countries. Today, Tom still protests outside that 7-Eleven.
Making the film was not easy; I had no idea about border security and immigration policies. I will never forget the first time I was at the southern border with my camera, witnessing cartels controlling 2,000 miles of our country with no concerns about being arrested or stopped by Border Patrol. I was hooked immediately, and I have been ever since.
The poster was inspired by a photo given to me by an Arizona rancher who installed infared cameras to count the foot traffic passing through is ranch at night.
