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Description
Born in the U.S.A. provides a 20-minute critical review of current situations involving foreign women giving birth to their children in the United States of America in an attempt to secure U.S. citizenship for their descendants. The context of this situation derives from the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, which acknowledges that all persons physically born in the U.S. are citizens of the U.S. irrespective of the parents' nationality. Thus, children born in the U.S. to foreign parents have no choice in their citizenship. This documentary film delves specifically into the lives of Korean and Mexican immigrants whose children were born in the U.S. and are living in the U.S. The cases presented in the documentary examine the benefits as well as the conflicts of dual citizenship. It was not the purpose of this project to make any claims as to the present political positions regarding the legality of Mexican and Korean mothers giving birth to children in the U.S., nor did it draw any conclusions about the ongoing controversy regarding general immigration issues in the U.S. Instead, the emphasis is on what U.S. citizenship means directly to people who have dual citizenship, and who may live separated from their extended family. Born in the U.S.A. employs the "participatory" and "observational" documentary strategies, as described by Bill Nichols. Interviews with several dual citizenship holders as well as the mothers who have given or will give birth to their children in the U.S. suggested that they regard U.S. citizenship as a tool for securing a better life for their offspring. The filmmaker emphasizes that foreign mothers giving birth to children in the U.S. is not driven merely by monetary desire. The aim of the documentary is to depict as truthfully as possible the plight and perspectives of foreign mothers and their children who have acquired dual citizenship as a result of being born in the U.S. Chapter 1 of this project states the major problem covered in the documentary film. Chapter 2 provides information on the literature and films relating thematically and stylistically to this documentary. Chapter 3 is dedicated to describing the methods and procedures employed in the filmmaking process, and Chapter 4 provides a retrospective summary report of the work. The documentary film, Born in the U.S.A., is available for viewing at the website https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Vu6RSOND-8.
