There was a diverse crowd at the screening which included high-tech executives rubbing shoulders with construction workers and gardeners sitting next to political activists. And, it was all about immigration reform.
Immigration reform is not just a hot button issue to Jose Antonio Vargas. It's his issue. It's his personal story. "You hear so much about immigration and it's not about the U.S.-Mexico border. It's not about defense. It's not about Republican or Democrat. It's actually about families and the fact that families are separated," he said.
In his new movie, "Documented," Vargas tells his story and that of other so-called "dreamers" – young immigrants who grew up in America without legal status. He was sent by his mom from the Philippines to live with grandparents in Mountain View. He found out at age 16 that he was there illegally.
Now 32, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and still undocumented, Vargas hopes his move adds to the national debate. "What it does, is it personalizes and humanizes an issue that is often treated as an abstraction, often treated as, 'It's over there,'" when really, it's right here. You know we're here," he said.
However, it's not likely to change the mind of Minute Man and Tea Party activist Steve Kemp. "Our country America was built on legal immigration and now we've got people flooding here and taking advantage of everything that legal citizens have. And I don't think that's fair to us," he said.
Kemp and other critics may not have been present for the film screening, but there was a diverse crowd. From Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, now front and center in the immigration debate, to day laborers from a center in Mountain View, advocating for comprehensive reform.
