"The Shadow Catcher" by Hipolito Acosta (2012)

This is a very exciting, and quickly read book. The author, Hipolito Acosta, is a 30 year veteran of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. His exploits are the stuff of which legends are made; and indeed; Mr. Acosta has become just that. This is a man who had himself smuggled from Mexico into the United States, not once, but twice. Each trip was an infiltration of the human trafficking rings which operate with impunity, using human beings as pawns in an effort to enrich themselves.

The author, himself an American of Latino descent, was raised in the Redford, Texas region, the son of migrant workers. During those years the United States and Mexico had an agreement in place, allowing for the Mexicans to come work in the United States for the harvesting of various crops, before they had to return home. This system was put into place during the last years of World War Two, when manpower on the home front was at a premium. The program was discontinued in 1964 due to abuses by both sides of the agreement. The Mexicans did not always go home, as required; while their American hosts were also making veritable slaves out of many. This, many believe, was the beginning of today’s illegal Immigration problem.

When Mr. Acosta turned 17, he joined the U.S. Navy, and shortly after his discharge he was married. He then joined the INS, in which he spent 3 decades working on the problem of illegal immigration. He has many stories from his time as an agent, including 2 trips in which he had himself smuggled into the United States in order to verify, and ultimately take down, several human trafficking operations, as well as a very well organized document forging operation.

Along the way Mr. Hipolito has encountered not only danger from the criminals he seeks to bring to justice, but also apathy from within the very agencies he is working for. Through all of the frustration, and danger, he keeps true to his course, managing to outwit those who would rather see him dead, as well as circumventing the forces from within the INS, which would keep him from doing his duty.

A compassionate man, he has also found the time to make a difference in several lives along the way, helping some of the most needy of the victims obtain residency in the United States.

His first trip as human cargo was from Juarez to Chicago, with a stop in a “safe” hose in Compton, California. The tensions, and indignities which people go through in order to reach America, by whatever means necessary, will give the reader a new appreciation of having been born here. There are very few countries which people try to sneak into, as opposed to ones in which they are trying to sneak out of.

A very informative book with great insights into the money, and human drama, which takes place each day as the INS fights a seemingly endless war. That this war is fought not only against the illegal immigrants and the cartels which serve them, but also against forces within our own government, make this a must read for those who wish to fully understand the depth of the illegal immigration problem.

"The Wire" - Any Season

This is the explosive, street level drama that takes place in the neighborhood where I used to work in Baltimore during the 17 years in which I lived there. It is so realistic and factual in its portrayal of life in that neighborhood, that I have no doubt as to the veracity of the plots, or of the writing. It's shown exactly as I remember it.

Speaking of the writing, Ed Burns and David Simon are the two award winning fellows who brought you "Homicide:Life on the Street", the Emmy Award winning TV show, and the prize winning book "The Corner", which was later produced by PBS as a series, prior to this one. The lives depicted in this series are identical to the real lives portrayed in the pages of that book.

This is the main area of the action in "The Wire." The west side of Baltimore, from Martin Luther King Blvd to Monroe Street is a daily battleground between law enforcement and the street level drug trade. Stopping for a red light in this area produces all sorts of people coming up to the car window; prostitutes, drug dealers, rip off artists, you name it - they got it. And it goes on 24/7. In the daytime, the police are on top of things, but at night it's a different story, as the drug dealers and their customers steal, shoot and beat their way to the evenings "high". This usually involves at least one shooting and an assorted number of overdoses.

This series is well produced, and has an excellent theme song, which was re-recorded each year by a new group. Season 4 is my favorite version, which was arranged by Doreen Vail and recorded by the members of a Baltimore Boys Choir.

As usual, I'm about 5 years behind the rest of the world in watching this realistic and cutting edge show. The only excuse I have is that I was probably catching up on something else at the time, no doubt something which was 5 years old then. Like the neighborhood depicted in "The Wire", somethings never change.

"Harry Brown" with Michael Caine

Being a Michael Caine fan carries with it many risks. The main one is that he makes any movie offered to him. He once remarked that, "I am an actor, and that's what I do. I don't write the stuff." But I am always willing to take a chance on one of his films, hoping that it will be another gem, such as "The Man Who Would Be King", or the beautifully scripted "Cider House Rules", or "Secondhand Lions." While "Harry Brown" may not rise to those levels of perfection, it is worth the time to watch. This is the British version of "Gran Torino", the American film starring Clint Eastwood as an angry old man, fed up and ready to strike back.

While the theme of this movie is clearly akin to "Gran Torino", which was made one year before, this film offers you the opportunity to see that the breakdown in social order is not confined to the United States alone. This film takes place in Great Britain.

Harry, played by Michael Caine, is a "pensioner", that is he is on what we call Social Security and lives in the housing project known as the "Estate." It is a typical high rise, high crime type of development which we, here in America, refer to as the "projects." His life consists mainly of going to the local pub with his friend, another aging "pensioner."

His friend has taken to carrying a bayonet, a souvenir from Harry and his days as a Royal Marine. He carries it for protection against the drug dealers and thugs who inhabit the underground pedestrian walkway that leads into the "estate." Harry walks the extra half a mile to avoid the tunnel, but his friend is insistent upon his right to use it.

The old man has been to the Police several times seeking protection, to no avail. When he is finally beaten to death Harry decides that he must act on his own to avenge the murder. This is where the film takes a much different turn than "Gran Torino."

Harry goes on a killing spree, and although he kills only the ones involved in his friends death, he never looks beyond his own anger and rage. In "Gran Torino", Clint Eastwood's character actually learns something about himself, as well as the problems of those around him. Using this knowledge he is able to help change some of the problems that plague the neighborhood in which he lives.

Not so in "Harry Brown." When about to kill one of the men who murdered his friend , he is shown a film of the actual murder, taken on one of the thugs cellphones. What he sees shocks him; his friend, insisting upon using the tunnel, actually can be seen brandishing the weapon and striking the first blow. He is then savagely beaten to death, and though his death is unwarranted, you are made to understand that it was his actions which inadvertently caused it.

This is a bitter pill for Harry Brown to swallow. And for the viewer as well. Very realistic filming and credible acting make this a film worth watching, even if just as a comparison to "Gran Torino." It is interesting to see how the two films take the same theme and come to completely different conclusions concerning the same problems.