"I don't belong here!”.. families broken up by inhuman US law
These are the stories of people convicted of minor crimes and deported to their place of birth in the Azores, which many left as young children. Deported hours after sentences completed, refused permission to say goodbye to families, or refused entry after a holiday, all because they didn't apply for citizenship decades earlier. How the 'most advanced country in the world' treats those who can't fight back.
Paulo Abreu's film (75 mins), which premiered at the DocLisboa Film Festival in Lisbon, tells the story of people who were thrown out of the US and Canada, and dumped where they were born on the Portuguese islands of the Azores, due to not having claimed citizenship.
A change in US law in 1996 made any non-US citizen sentenced to more than 1 year in jail or probation, for crimes of 'moral turpitude' liable to deportation. And it is retro-active. Paulo Abreu's film (75 mins), which premiered at the DocLisboa Film Festival in Lisbon, tells the story of people who were thrown out of the US and Canada, and dumped where they were born on the Portuguese islands of the Azores, due to not having claimed citizenship.
A change in US law in 1996 made any non-US citizen sentenced to more than 1 year in jail or probation, for crimes of 'moral turpitude' liable to deportation. And it is retro-active. The actors are playing themselves and the film was made on a very low budget, at the same time as a play, which has been put on at many theatres in Portugal. Everyone sees it as an educational project - after living legally for decades in the US or Canada without realising it was important to apply for citizenship, a relatively minor conviction can lead to families being broken up - and for what benefit? Many of them feel they have been given another sentence after having served one in North America.
Despite their situation, they've kept a sense of humour, Tony offers a free performance for the Queen if they come to the UK.
The Prisma talked to the directors of the film Paulo Abreu, and the play Dinarte Branco, and four of the actors who played themselves, Tony, Louie, Paul and Zita.
The interview was first published in The Prisma Multicultural Newspaper on December 31st 2017 and can be read in full with photos here: https://theprisma.co.uk/2017/12/31/i-dont-belong-here-families-broken-up-by-inhuman-us-law/