Human Traffickers Feed Off Loose Border Laws: ‘America’s Forgotten’ Director

Joshua Philipp
Updated:

The Biden administration’s much looser stance on immigration than the previous administration is raising new discussion on the broader impacts of encouraging illegal entry into the United States.

The documentary film “America’s Forgotten“ explores the death, torture, and suffering that surrounds illegal immigration, a topic that Hollywood appears to view too sensitive to touch.

The Epoch Times’ senior reporter Joshua Philipp interviewed Singh Gujral, the award-winning filmmaker and director of “America’s Forgotten.”

She is a survivor of two types of cancer who works on entertainment projects with a strong humanitarian perspective.

Gurjal, a registered Democrat, said she started the film with a “very humanitarian angle” focused on the poverty and persecution that “forces” people to try to illegally immigrate, but as she “started to investigate and film further around the world, I realized that the picture that I was seeing through my lens was not essentially the picture that I had in my head. And the stories just weren’t adding up.”

Gurjal said she had two chief realizations on the topic: “One, that there’s a serious abuse of America’s very generous asylum and refugee policies. And second, it helps no one, not Americans, not the ones who vote for this either.” She added that a lot of people lose their lives on the way to the United States, and the rampant presence of sex and human trafficking along with other human rights abuses.

Gurjal highlighted that the people who are also hurt are actually the American citizens that barely cross the income threshold that decides if one can have certain benefits, such as free healthcare.

Gurjal interviewed “coyotes” in the Himalayas who show prospective customers a video clip of the moment Democrat candidates raised their hands during their primary debate when asked: “Raise your hand if your plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants.” All of the candidates raise their hands, including Kamala Harris and Joe Biden.

The coyotes tell those they offer to escort illegally across the border that they'll get free health care, food stamps, and other benefits. She said she witnessed two people buying the service for $100,000.

“Now Biden is talking about foreign aid, called USAID, and they set up banks to help Central America sort of come above this poverty line and help them build their economy. ... There are banks in Central America today that are lending money to Central Americans to make that trek to the U.S. illegally. And where’s that money going? The money goes to coyotes and cartels so they can be brought to the U.S. These are USAID banks giving money to pay the coyotes” she explained.

She also noted how some corporations are complicit in contributing to the immigration problem. She mentioned the case of stories about Disney “laying off workers and actually training their workers from overseas who will work for half the money.”

Toward the end of the interview, she pleaded to officials to responsibly correct the situation. “At least make the effort to do the right thing by the people that voted for you,” Gurjal added earnestly.

“I don’t believe that just because you’re a Democrat, you can’t love this country more than your party. I absolutely love the United States more than I at this point love my party,” the filmmaker said.

Samuel Allegri contributed to this report.