The Undocumented Lawyer (2020) - full transcript

♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

MAN 1: (IN SPANISH)

MAN 2: (IN ENGLISH)
I'd actually like to know
how she was admitted to the bar

since, uh, the oath of office

requires you to adhere
to the laws of California

and the laws
of the United States.

WOMAN:
Interesting you bring that up,

because California benefits
to illegal immigrants

are as follows:
driver's licenses,

in-state tuition,
ability to practice law,

-some welfare benefits they get.
-(RADIO CLICKS)



♪ (SOMBER MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪

(TURN SIGNAL TICKING)

♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(PUNCHES LANDING)

TRAINER: Strike. Keep going.
C'mon, c'mon.

Forward, forward.
Boom, boom, boom, bro.

LIZBETH MATEO:
Sometimes my life feels like
it will be out of control

if I don't remain focused
on what's important

and what's in front of me.

I think everyone
has the right to dream.

I'm willing to fight
and to work hard

for those dreams.

TRAINER:
C'mon, everything you got.



(CAR ENGINES RUMBLING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(IN SPANISH)

Una, dos, tres!

(CROWD APPLAUDING, CHEERING)

MAN: (IN ENGLISH) Yeah, Lizbeth!

(DOOR UNLOCKING)

(ASSISTANT SPEAKING SPANISH)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH) The state
of California has decided that

someone's immigration status
doesn't determine

whether they can become
an attorney or not.

If someone passes the bar

and meets all of the other
requirements to practice law,

you can become
a licensed attorney

in this state.

-(DOOR OPENING)
-CLIENT: Good morning.

-ASSISTANT: Hi, good morning.
-How are you?

-Fine, and yourself?
-Good, thank you.

-Lizbeth is in the office.
-Oh, okay.

LIZBETH: I want to fight
for people like myself,

people like my family.

I want to show this community

that even
if you're undocumented,

you can fight back.

And I use my own story,
my own experience, to do that.

LIZBETH'S MOTHER: Mm-hmm.

LIZBETH: (IN SPANISH)

MOTHER: Mm-hmm.

(IN SPANISH)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH)
My family moved here
when I was 14.

When we first moved here,
my mom said,

"Don't tell anyone
that you're undocumented."

So my mom's voice was always
in the back of my head

every time I would say,
"I'm undocumented."

♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

LIZBETH: It was in college
that I met
other undocumented students

and we started organizing.

-Undocumented!
-(ANCHORMAN SPEAKING SPANISH)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH)
It was scary at first,
and then I just realized

the only way that I can
keep my family safe

is if I'm as visible as possible

because if something happens,
people will know.

(IN SPANISH)

(IN ENGLISH)
The immigrant rights movement

has definitely taken lessons
from the civil rights movement.

Basically putting ourselves,

our bodies,
our futures on the line.

We have to be at the forefront.

ANCHORMAN: The state senate
now actually appointing

an illegal immigrant,
attorney Lizbeth Mateo,

to a state-wide committee

advising college access
and financial aid.

Mateo says, "Illegal immigrants
are not adequately represented

in government."

(LAUGHS) My.

Shame on you
for turning U.S. citizenship

into something that's cheap.

She went to college
and law school in this country.

I highly encourage you

to call the Department
of Homeland Security

and report this woman,
Lizbeth Mateo,

from Oaxaca, Mexico, to ICE.

I had never received
that kind of...

that kind of hate.

♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

LIZBETH:
People were sending me messages

saying, "I hope that you die.

I hope that your family
and you get killed."

I don't live in fear for myself.

Where I worry is being
separated from my family.

♪ (MUSIC STOPS) ♪

(IN SPANISH)

LIZBETH'S FATHER: Mm-hmm.

-MOTHER:
-LIZBETH:

-(MOTHER SPEAKING SPANISH)
-FATHER:

(CARS HONKING)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH)
There are specific cases

that I'm focusing my time
and my energy in

because I think that
if we can win those cases,

that will have a huge impact
in the way that we fight and win

for other undocumented people
in this country.

(IN SPANISH)

(IN ENGLISH)
Edith's case is unique

because it has already
gone through all the appeals

from going
to the immigration judge

to the Board
of Immigration Appeals

and then the Sixth Circuit.

She's been fighting...

for years now
to be able to stay here.

She's in a church,
and she's safe

from ICE entering the church
and detaining her, removing her,

but she doesn't have
the freedom that she had before.

-♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
-(BIRDS SINGING)

EDITH ESPINAL: (IN SPANISH)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH)
When Edith fled Mexico
to enter the U.S.

and, um, seek asylum,
she was fleeing cartel violence.

During the initial hearing,

Edith was not allowed
to provide evidence

and to explain in detail
her fears

for returning to Mexico.

Her asylum case was denied.

She had a judge who had
an over 90 percent denial rate.

She has potential avenues
for relief,

but the wait is long.
It could be over four years.

And I can't, in good conscience,
tell my client

to wait five years in a church.

♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪

(INSECTS CHIRPING)

EDITH: Hello?

(IN SPANISH)

(EDITH SPEAKING SPANISH)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH)
When I got off the plane,
I found out that

the city council,
they decided to cancel

introducing and voting on our
resolution in support of Edith.

Columbus is supposed
to be a sanctuary city,

um, and if they
can't support a woman

who's been living
in a sanctuary for a year,

then you know, that tells--
that's more, um,

a reflection of them
than it is of Edith.

(BOTH TALKING IN SPANISH)

(IN ENGLISH)
So, you're suggesting
that we go back to Liz Brown

and say, "We understand
you don't have the votes,

-but let's get it on the floor"?
-Yeah.

We need the support
of a local community

and we need
the support of local...

-Absolutely.
-...um, the local government.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

I'm very honest with my clients.

From a legal perspective,
there's only so much we can do,

but my background
is that of an organizer.

And so, we know that
there's set immigration laws,

and then there's policy.

And policy changes
depending on who's in power.

If we're ever going
to win anything,

not just for Edith,
but for many other immigrants,

then politicians need to do more
than just pay lip service.

So we're gonna give them
the chance to actually do
what's right,

and if not, then figure out
a-- a way to pressure them.

-(RAIN PATTERING)
-(BIRDS SINGING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

-ELIZABETH BROWN: All right.
-MAN 1: Thanks again.

ELIZABETH: Yes, thank you again.
Thank you. And I--

-MAN 2: Thank you so much, Liz.
-ELIZABETH: Yes, I really...

-MAN 3:
Yeah, nice to meet you as well.
-ELIZABETH: I'm sorry, Edith.

(CHATTER CONTINUES)

♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

LIZBETH:
The city council couldn't agree
on the resolution.

They decided to not even
bring it up for a vote.

EDITH: (IN SPANISH)

(SOBS)

(INHALES DEEPLY, EXHALES)

♪ (SOMBER MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪

♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪

LIZBETH: (IN SPANISH)

(IN ENGLISH) Okay?

(IN SPANISH)

SAMUEL OLIVER BRUNO:

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(IN SPANISH)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH) We believe
that if we have one case

that wins something
because of the organizing

around the sanctuary,
uh, movement,

then we can start winning
for more people.

All we need is one case.

CHILD: Mommy. Mommy!

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

♪ (QUIET MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

Yeah, that makes more sense.

-This is the whole campaign.
-ATTORNEY: Yeah.

-The whole thing.
-ATTORNEY: Yeah.

But what drives it at the top
is your story. (CLEARS THROAT)

The most important thing
that we have to do,

now that you all have heard
each other's stories,

is figure out what your
local campaigns might look like,

and while we're all here,
see if there's connections

that other people can support
to make it a national campaign.

(IN SPANISH)

♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪

EDITH: (IN ENGLISH)
Today, I have one year
living in sanctuary.

I think my family changed a lot
because we're learning
too much.

And I--
I see my change in myself.

I see the difference in me.

Thank you, everybody,
for all your support.

Thank you, everybody.

Now I...
I know the message in my dream.

You are my angels.

(CONGREGATION MURMURS)

Yeah. You are
the angels for my family.

We need to show
all the politicians

we are here, and we...

um... (SPEAKS SPANISH)

-(IN ENGLISH) And we will win.
-Yeah, we will win. (CHUCKLES)

(CONGREGATION APPLAUDS)

EDITH: I don't want to hear
any more excuses

from the politicians.

I want to ask
all the community...

you need to know
how much power do you have.

We need to do something.

We need to tell the politicians
to do the change.

♪ (QUIET MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

EDITH: (IN SPANISH)

(SPEAKING SPANISH)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH)
She's really now at a point

where she's leading
her own campaign.

MAN: (IN SPANISH)

(IN ENGLISH) We're gonna fight
until the very end.

That something ha--
Something's gonna happen.

Something has to happen.

♪ (GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

(ENGINE RUMBLES)

♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪

(IN SPANISH)

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH)
Immigration reform
is not gonna happen

in a larger scale.

The only way
to make things change

is by getting policy changes
at a smaller scale.

But at a smaller scale
doesn't actually mean

that it doesn't have
a large impact.

♪ (ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪

(CLAPPING)

-(LIZBETH CHUCKLES)
-(BOY COOS)

(LIZBETH'S FATHER
SPEAKING SPANISH)

(IN SPANISH)

LIZBETH: (IN ENGLISH)
My family is still undocumented,

so it's very hard for me
to be an attorney

and not be able to find
a solution for their cases,

but I hope that someday I can,
and using my legal knowledge,

using everything
I have at my disposal,

I wanna make sure
that my family is able

to be as free
as they want to be.

(IN SPANISH)

(IN ENGLISH) What this
country's about is, I think,

giving you the opportunity
to actually fight.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER IN SPANISH)

(BOY LAUGHS)

-(CHATTER CONTINUES)
-♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪

♪ (QUIET MUSIC PLAYING) ♪

♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪