Questions for a non-immigrant audience:

(Note: It’s a good idea to have an experienced facilitator to lead the discussion, who can lay down ground rules for respecting each others’ comments and privacy, and who can keep the discussion on track.)

• Did you have stereotypes about immigrants before seeing the film? If so, what were they, and have any of them changed? How have they changed? What stereotypes about day laborers did you have before seeing the film? Have they changed, and if so, how?
• Are any of the personal stories in the film close to your own personal experience? How? What challenges does your family have in common with the people you saw in “Los Trabajadores” and how are they different?
• Think of a time when you experienced a period of difficulty. What strengths did you draw on? What strategies did you use? Where did you turn for help? Did the experience change you in any way? What strengths do the people in “Los Trabajadores” exhibit in dealing with adversity?
• Why do you think immigrants wait for work on street corners or other public spaces? Do you think a person has the right to wait and look for work wherever they can, whether that be a street corner, or an organized center or hiring hall?
• Do you think undocumented workers should have any labor rights? If not, why not, and if so, what rights do you think they should have? Do you think the undocumented workers in “Los Trabajadores” had the right to demand a minimum wage?
• What would you do if an employer would not pay you? What are your options? What are your own support networks?
• What are the challenges for day laborers to organize?
• Do you think the neighbors of the proposed site had legitimate complaints about the day labor site coming to their neighborhood? If so, what were they? How do you think you would have reacted to a day labor site moving into your neighborhood?
• Why do you think the people in “Los Trabajadores” migrated to the U.S.? Why would an undocumented immigrant endure such difficulty to come and work in the U.S.?
• What do you think of the increased globalization of the world? Do you think free mobility of goods and services across borders should apply to free mobility of people? Why or why not?
• Is the presence of immigrants important to this country? Why or why not? Where do immigrants work in your community, and what kinds of jobs do they have at these workplaces? If all immigrants were sent back to their countries of origin, what businesses and institutions in the U.S. would be affected and how? What kind of work do day laborers do in your community? How much do you think they are paid? Have you ever hired day labor to do work at your house?
• What are some of the reasons Americans reject immigrants? Do you think race plays a role in people’s attitudes to immigrants in the U.S.? Why or why not? Do you think class plays a role in people’s attitudes toward immigrants, or between different groups, or within groups? Why or why not?
• What are some current immigration policies issues impacting immigrants in your community? Nationally?

Source: Many of the questions above were taken from the La Ciudad Discussion Leader’s Guide, published by the Independent Television Service (ITVS), www.itvs.org.

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