Two Americans

The documentary Two Americans is a cautionary tale on the direction immigration policies are headed in the US, but also a hopeful exploration on the power of resiliency.

The parents of 9-year-old Katherine Figueroa are arrested when America’s Toughest Sheriff raids a Phoenix carwash suspected of hiring undocumented workers. As young Kathy fights to save her parents from deportation, a community group succeeds in pressuring the County Board to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s spending priorities. When the sheriff retaliates against his political foes, his actions spark outrage, and a federal investigation.

Filmmaker Valeria Fernandez will discuss current policies and the outcome of Arpaio’s political and criminal fate.

She has been covering Arizona’s immigrant community for more than 15 years. Her most recent stories highlight the struggles that unaccompanied minors from Central America face when trying to access mental health treatment in the United States after experiencing unspeakable trauma in their homelands.

She has also written extensively about the racial profiling that took place in Maricopa County, highlighting the stories of a Latino woman who was forced to give birth in shackles, a legal resident of the United States who presented valid documentation but was jailed for 12 days anyway, and a U.S. citizen who hit the pavement face first after a deputy jerked him out of his truck.

Her work has also been featured in PRI’s Global Nation and The World, CNN Español, Radio Bilingüe, and Al Jazeera English.