The Infiltrators Shines a Beacon of Hope in Dire Times

Protesters in Times Square gather to demonstrate against ICE and deportations. The sign reads: Stop the deportations: Immigrants are not criminals!
Shot by SWinxy.

By Eli Kowar

On Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, Hostos Community College in the Bronx screened the Sundance Award-winning film The Infiltrators and featured a discussion with Marco Saavedra, the man centered in the film.

Using a mix of real footage shot by the National Immigrant Youth Alliance, or NIYA, and re-enactments of what happened behind detention center walls, the docudrama follows Saavedra and NIYA member Viridiana “Viri” Martinez, who turned themselves in to Border Patrol to infiltrate the Broward Detention Center in Florida in order to expose its practices. Many NIYA members fell under the criteria for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, better known as DACA, yet they were still at risk of being deported.

Why put themselves in this situation? NIYA’s leader, Mohammad Abdollahi, explained, “The one thing that every undocumented kid is told: ‘If you see a police officer, run and hide, because you could get turned over to immigration.’ What we learned is that to actually have power as an immigrant, you have to do the exact opposite. Once we had the safety of knowing that we could not be deported, we had infinite possibilities.”

The Infiltrators gives insight into what it is like to be treated as a criminal for simply existing. The detainees are, more often than not, people who don’t understand the system and don’t have the financial means to afford experienced lawyers who do. 

Many of them spend years behind bars for no crime at all, awaiting their turn to be escorted onto a plane and deported back home — a warzone for some, a death sentence for others. With support from NIYA, Saavedra and Martinez were able to free up to 70 other undocumented immigrants.

In a time when anti-immigrant sentiment has run rampant, and the current administration is openly targeting undocumented immigrants and allegedly kidnapping them off the streets in broad daylight, the film offers a ray of hope. Christina Torres, a recent BCC graduate, former secretary of anti-racism club Common Ground, and one of the event’s organizers, said, “This film [is] so relevant for today’s political climate as immigrants are under attack with little to no legal protections. ... Immigrant hate has always been prevalent in American history. However, I do think that the underlying theme of organizing, specifically student organizing, should be discussed more. Many people, young and old, often feel helpless in regard to the wrongdoings of our governments. Marco and Viri were fearless and selfless when they infiltrated the detention center, and it is that fearlessness we all need to follow and aspire to.”

Torres encouraged students to take “Know Your Rights” cards o share amongst their peers, and her passion and vocal courage embodied what The Infiltrators represents. “I believe racist immigration policy is not new — it’s part of the history of this country and capitalist exploitation,” said Joan Beckerman, adjunct lecturer at Hostos, faculty advisor of Common Ground and member of the Hostos BX Action Committee who also helped make the event possible. “But the movement to defend immigrants and stand up against ICE is so necessary!”

During a post-film discussion, Saavedra, who now runs his family’s restaurant La Morada in the Bronx, said, “I think that when you are detained, the temptation is depression and to just shut down, and I think also we were trying to leverage the fact that you tried everyone. You tried the pro-bono attorneys ... you tried to be nice to your ICE agent; you tried to talk to the judge. What do you have to lose if you believe in organizing? It’s a big jump, but the choice is there. It’s also just to restore that agency to the individual, to say there is still something you can do.”

“What do you have to lose if you believe in organizing?” - MARCO SAAVEDRA, ONE OF THE INFILTRATORS’ PROTAGONISTS