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US government officials are attempting to prevent the release of a new Netflix documentary series which shows ICE agents breaking laws while enforcing immigration policy, reports claim.
Federal officials threatened filmmakers Shaul Schwarz and Christina Clusiau with legal action in an effort to stall its release until after the November presidential election — and even tried to block some parts of the footage from ever being shown, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
The six-part documentary series titled ‘Immigration Nation’ supposedly shows behind-the-scenes footage of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents lying to gain access to immigrants’ homes, illegally picking the lock on an apartment door, and being told to “arrest as many people as possible, even those without criminal records,” the Times said.
The series became the subject of “heated” emails and phone calls from officials attempting to delay its release, which is currently set for August. Schwarz and Clusiau claim they were warned by the government that it would “use its ‘full weight’ to veto scenes it found objectionable.”
The filmmakers were also allegedly warned that it would be their “little production company” and not the industry giant Netflix, that would have to suffer any consequences of the conflict with the administration. They were also apparently made aware that the distaste for the documentary went “all the way to the top” — seemingly a reference to President Donald Trump himself.
The production crew said they began to communicate via an encrypted messaging service, install security cameras in their offices, and hide the hard drives with raw footage. Schwarz said the threats were “scary and intimidating” but made them want to “to fight to do the story.”
The government reportedly took aim at the producers despite the fact that ICE leadership itself initially approved the making of the series and the crew was granted rare access inside the US immigration system.
ICE press-secretary, Jenny L. Burke, said that the agency “wholeheartedly disputes the allegations brought forward by filmmakers of this production.”
One moment in the documentary’s trailer shows an ICE commander ordering an officer to “bring in at least two people” — a comment which prompts one of the filmmakers to note this is a “pretty stupid thing to say” in front of the cameras.
Immigration Nation’s production began soon after Trump’s inauguration in 2017. The president’s anti-immigration rhetoric and the perceived brutality of its enforcement officers led many of his critics to adopt the “abolish ICE” slogan.
