Summary
Netflix’s After the Raid is another telling pro-immigration story on Netflix, highlighting the horrors after a large raid and the emotional fallout in the community.
With the release of After the Raid it’s evident that Netflix, as a streaming platform and as an organisation, have a vested interest in the troubling immigration processes that are blemishing the reputation of the USA. A 3 Minute Hug, Living Undocumented and even a thematic final season of Orange Is the New Black demonstrates that Netflix is very much leaning on the pro-immigration speel. We are inundated with shorts, series’ and films that highlight the lack of humanity when it comes to dealing with immigrants crossing the border. Netflix is playing its part to raise awareness.
And with the growing strength of hard-right politics, the trend is worrisomely increasing rather than decreasing. Just last week the UK voted for an all-majority hard-right political party that has an undesirable vision on immigration controls and worker’s rights. While Trump is momentarily impeached, and likely to get off scot-free at Senate by the Republicans, who are frankly selling their souls, the UK seems to be heading for the same political landscape after Brexit is approved on December 20th, 2019.
After the Raid highlights what may become a common occurrence in what we regularly hail as a “modern” society. The Netflix short film follows the emotional fallout after a large immigration raid in a small town. A woman, whose husband was captured in the raid, describes how the slaughterhouse was completely cordoned off at both sides — her husband didn’t have a chance to even say goodbye.
There are religious factors in After the Raid where churchgoers question the meaning of “love thy neighbour”. The religious people in this documentary seem to be loving towards their immigrant friends, however, I have to question the purpose of merging the two. The rights of a human do not link to a person’s religious belief in my earnest opinion — a human right should be a given, regardless of someone’s religious views. There’s a certain scene that raised an eyebrow where a priest explains that he loves his immigrant friends and that the “law is the law”. I felt the “law is the law” is a rudimentary answer of someone who does not brave to say they agree with the politics behind it.
But at the same time, there is hope in Netflix’s After the Raid –– it blocks out the nightmarish scenarios of showing immigrants deported but offers commonality between them and their local neighbours. Some locals express how they disagree with the “no mercy” approach to immigration and the expectancy to return to your place of birth after working in the USA for months.
