Southern Exposure explores the implications of illegal immigration rarely if ever reported by the national media. It goes beyond the headlines to probe back stories like the teaching of hate and reverse racism by high school ethnic studies programs, the upsurge in communicable diseases carried north by illegal immigrants, the hazards faced by the migrants and financial burdens assumed by taxpayers. The scope and depth of the film is unparalleled. In three years of research, shooting and editing, the producers spent many exhausting hours in the blistering Sonoran Desert with The U.S. Border Patrol, Minutemen, ranchers and migrant rights groups. The result is a film that is balanced and journalistically honest yet pulls no punches to reveal the criminal element mixed with hopeful crossers.
