Crossing the lines between fiction and reality: The Infiltrators and the De-criminalization of Unauthorized Immigrants

The Infiltrators (2019) is a docuthriller directed by Latino directors Cristina Ibarra and Alex Rivera. It combines documentary scenes and fictionalized re-enactments to tell the story of two DREAMers who purposefully got arrested to infiltrate a for-profit immigrant detention center in Broward, Florida in order to help a few detainees stop their deportation. This paper first investigates the way the film balances the use of traditional documentary techniques (interviews, observation) with fictionalized re-enactments using the concepts of performance and fictionality – developed by Richard Walsh and used by Stephan Iversen and Henrik Skov Nielsen in their own analysis of a hybrid documentary. Secondly, it argues that the real performance of the film consists in calling into question the criminalization of immigration in the United States via a portrayal of undocumented immigrants that counters their “illegality” and “criminality.” Overall, it shows that the film, which won the audience award at the Sundance film festival in 2019, is part of a social and political conversation about immigration and security enforcement.