Deported 2012
Distributed by Third World Newsreel, 545 Eighth Avenue, Suite 550, New York, NY 10018; 212-947-9277
Produced by Rachele Maglorire and Chantal Regnault
DVD, color, 1 hr. 14 min., French, Creole and English subtitles
High School - General Adult
Education, Psychology, Human Rights, Sociology
Date Entered: 12/21/2015
Reviewed by LaRoi Lawton, Library & Learning Resources Department, Bronx Community College of the City University of New York“Since 1996 under the new Antiterrorism Act, every immigrant living in the United States with a criminal record is eligible for deportation. The crimes range from drunk driving, domestic violence to homicide. After serving their sentence, these individuals are sent back to their homeland.” Thus starts the premise of this film in Port-au-Prince, Haiti where the viewer is introduced to five immigrants deported back to Haiti for crimes committed in the United States. While dated (2012), the film illustrates the extreme hardship of many Haitians today but also how those who are deported fare as well. With more than 80,000 people made homeless by the January 2010 earthquake, who to this day remain displaced, the viewer meets Verlaine, in Haiti for three years; Frantz, in Haiti for five years; Obed, in Haiti for four years; Restingo, in Haiti for seven years, and Richard who has been living in Haiti for twenty years. All were deported back to Haiti upon the completion of their jail sentences.
This film is hardcore in terms of showing the poverty, and way of life for these people who have no place to call home or a livelihood. At one point in the film, Restingo indicates to the film guide, he has not bathed since Saturday; the day he made this statement was Wednesday. For these men, Haiti is a completely new environment where mercy, kindness and public assistance is a rare commodity. It is both foreign and at times hostile. For those who have family back in the States, support is also rare because the overall arguments from their families is that ‘they created that situation” and that they too have immediate families stateside that they need to care for. For many of these families, these situations are recipes for the break-up of close familial relationships. So for these men, they have what is proverbially called a double-whammy. They have been deported to a country that looks upon them as both foreign and criminal despite any familial connection to Haiti. These two stigmas alone continue to hamper their ability to find suitable employment and a place to live. Until then, they roam the streets, find day-to-day labor, and hope for a warm bed when the sun goes down.