Laws exist for good reason. Without the punishment that comes with breaking them, our society would have no order. Logically, there is not a doubt in my mind that laws are a necessary force. However, The Golden Venture has created in me support for undocumented immigrants. Hearing the weakness in these immigrant’s voices and the monotony that awaited them made me understand why Jeff Lobach, Craig Trebilcock, Beverly Church spoke on behalf of these human beings. Some may argue that the film is biased towards undocumented immigrants, as it is very personal in nature. But I feel that for an issue involving the lives of real human beings, the humanization seen in the film is necessary. If we do not know about them, then how can we possibly judge them?

The filmmakers were aiming for sympathy, and they did not fail. Thinking of how these fathers, mothers, and teenagers were separated from their families for so long was rather heartbreaking. Some men simply aged too much during their incarceration to start anew after they were released. Even those that did find jobs were left with low wages and long hours. Was the weight of their unlawful trespassing really equivalent to a life of adversity?

Although having compassion for your fellow man is never a bad thing, I feel that the filmmakers could have included more than narrative and interviews. Giving a larger scope that included the legal matters of the situation would have been helpful. The statistics at the end of the film made me curious as to how those thirty-five individuals received asylum, or how those two people received artist’s visas. Also, how were the undocumented immigrants simply held in jail for nearly four years? In providing more information about these matters, the public can gain a better understanding of what should have been done then and what to do in the future.