The United States has one of the most heavily guarded borders in the world.
Walls, drones, and tens of thousands of agents patrol it every day.

And yet, nearly 15 million people live inside the country without legal status.

How can the richest nation on Earth — and the one that spends the most on border control — also have the largest undocumented population?

In this documentary, we explore a difficult truth: the U.S. immigration system isn’t broken — it works exactly as it was designed to.

From Ellis Island and the Chinese Exclusion Act, to the Bracero Program, the IIRIRA of 1996, and the rise of ICE after 9/11, this video traces how a century of policies created a structure that depends on keeping millions of workers in a permanent state of insecurity.

You’ll discover how undocumented labor powers the American economy, why temporary visa programs replicate exploitation legally, and who really benefits from a system built on invisible work and controlled vulnerability.

Because behind every wall and political speech lies an uncomfortable paradox: America needs these 15 million immigrants to stay illegal.