Crossing Over(2009)

The US offers hope--but that often comes at a price. Many can earn citizenship legally through a lengthy bureaucratic process, but others find themselves out of luck in a country where virtually anything can be bought. Sex, violence and betrayal become their currency. Some wait in line for permission to enter the U.S. while others take matters into their own hands. Working for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Los Angeles, Max Brogan is an agent sworn to protect our borders, he deals with the thousands that try to cross over into the US in search of a better life. The lives of Brogan, his ICE partner, Hamid, immigration defense attorney, Baraheri Denise Frankel, and her husband, Cole Frankel, intersect, by necessity, accident or fate, with Mexican factory worker Mireya Sanchez; Hamid Baraheri’s sister Zahra; young Bangladeshi Taslima Jahangir; British musician Gavin Kossef; Australian actress Claire Shepard; and Korean teen Yong Kim. Each has a different struggle: a single mother deported without her child; a high school girl whose provocative essay draws FBI attention; an actress who willingly prostitutes herself to earn her green card; a struggling musician trying to build a career while working his day job; and finally, a Korean teen caught between two worlds, while his family is desperate to naturalize.