On Monday night, ABC’s new summer soap, The Grand Hotel, took a brief, albeit dramatic, moment to address yet another liberal agenda (surprise!)—illegal immigration.
In the episode, titled “Suite Little Lies,” Felix (Adrian Pasdar), the fugitive criminal father of Yolanda (Justina Adorno) and Carolina (Feliz Ramirez) was hiding out in the hotel. After the threat of being discovered and sent to jail, Felix decided it’s best to leave the country and wanted his daughters to join him. This was a difficult decision for Yolanda as she has a girlfriend in the U.S., Marisa (Sabrina Texidor).
When Yolanda told her about her dad, and that she wanted Marisa to leave the country with them, Marisa started acting very strange and refused to entertain the idea. We later found out it is because she is an illegal immigrant:
Yolanda: Hey.
Marisa: Hey.
Yolanda: Look, I was thinking about how we left things.
Marisa: Me, too.
Yolanda: Uh, I'm not gonna go. With my dad. Look, I-I realized I don't want to leave with him if that means I lose you.
Marisa: Wait. I need to tell you something.
Yolanda: Okay.
Marisa: I have been acting weird about your dad, but it's not because I'm judging or even because I don't want to leave the country with you. [ Inhales deeply ] If I leave... I can't come back.
Yolanda: What do you mean?
Marisa: My family and I came here from Colombia when I was 4. And I guess we were in a hurry, so we didn't get asylum.
Yolanda: Okay...
Marisa: I didn't find out until I was a teenager, but, um... I'm undocumented.
Yolanda: Honey. It's okay. I promise.
Marisa: It's -- it's just a really scary time to admit that out loud. Please don't tell anyone. No one knows outside my family.
Yolanda: Well, I guess that makes me your family now.
This scene was mild compared to many liberally biased scenes about the same issue that run rampant on TV, however it still subtly snuck in the kind of drama that sought to gain the sympathy of its viewers. Marisa’s mention of being brought here when she was young, supposedly as a refugee who just had to get out, seemed to be pointing to the DACA issue that was so controversial today. She also mentioned that it's "a really scary time" for undocumented citizens — a not-so-subtle jab at our current administration.
While heartbreaking cases of true asylum seekers exist, it seems as though the media have been trying to portray that they were the vast majority of illegal immigration cases. When will we see a TV show that talks about the crimes that illegal immigrants commit in the U.S.?
