Out of Status (2007)

Four Muslim families' lives are dramatically changed after 9/11. Carma, an American citizen, saw her husband Akram arrested from their home and deported to Egypt. Akram lived in Pennsylvania, worked legally to support his family and waited to adjust his status. Two days after 9/11, Salem, an American citizen, was detained for 40 days and held in solitary confinement for allegedly stealing a rental car. Hakim, an Algerian, has permanent residency papers pending with the INS. After 9/11 he was placed in deportation proceedings, despite being married to a US legal resident. Hakim has a one-year old son who was born in Brooklyn. The Rahmans, also from Brooklyn, fled to a refugee shelter in Buffalo, New York to seek asylum in Canada. They face persecution in their native Bangladesh, but were afraid of enforcement measures in the US. Along with 15,000 others from Brooklyn, they left their homes and lives rather than face the prospect of being deported by authorities.