The Citizen Page #5

On top of that,

I have years of experience in sales.

Mr. Ray, I promise

I will do my best.

- I'm sure you will. Very impressive credentials.

- Thank you.

- I just need to be honest with you about something.

- Please.

If you're serious

about being hired,

you're gonna have to

change your name.

- What?

- Take it from me.

Oh.

Thank you, Mr. Raheem.

Appreciated.

- So your boss was almost killed.

- Mm-hmm.

You lost your job.

And then you were beat up

by a bunch of racists?

Yes.

It's not funny.

You need to be more careful.

Baha, I've seen worse

than this.

And everything happens

for a reason.

Just...

I don't know the reason yet.

I'm glad you're okay.

Are you okay?

What's wrong?

I spoke to my mother

last night.

Her cancer came back,

much worse than before.

I'm so sorry to hear this.

I fly to Beirut on Friday

to be with her.

Of course.

When are you coming back?

I can't come back, Brahim.

I have to stay there

with her.

What do you mean?

Just thinking that...

you and I could...

Maybe we could

have something.

But not here.

Why would you want

to stay here anyways?

Look how they treat you.

Are you asking me

to come with you?

I'm just asking you to think about

what you're giving up to be here.

- Is it really worth it?

- Yes. To me, it's worth it.

And you know this.

You're such a dreamer.

I'm not a quitter.

Well, I hope you find

what you're looking for here.

I'll pray for your mother.

Good-bye, Ibrahim.

- Josh!

- Ibrahim, it's good to see you again.

- What are you doing here?

- See you're still in one piece, huh?

Looking good, man.

Please, uh, meet my pops.

- David.

- Hi.

It's a pleasure.

I'm sorry I never got the chance to

thank you personally, so, uh, thank you.

Diane tells me you have

a business degree.

You used to sell cars.

Mark. Terry.

Want you to meet somebody.

Oh, Mark, Ibrahim.

Ibrahim, Mark. Nice to meet you.

Call me anytime.

Made for you, man.

Very suitable.

Drive safe.

Okay, you only named 10 of the

original colonies. I need three more.

Okay.

Pennsylvania,

Rhode Island...

and, um,

New York.

Yes.

New York!

Okay, for the final question of the

citizenship exam for Mr. Ibrahim Jarrah,

why did the Pilgrims

come to America?

You've been in the country

the required amount of time.

We have your N-400 form,

your filing fee,

If you pass the background check,

we will provide you the date and

time for your citizenship test.

Thank you.

Diane. Hey.

So, guess what

I have for you.

What?

No way.

Yes way.

Notice to appear.

"Mr. Jarrah,

based on evidence gathered by the

Department of Homeland Security,

you are being recommended for

deportation to your country of origin.

You are hereby summoned

to appear in court...

to respond to the charge

filed against you,

and either accept...

or contest

your deportation."

This cannot

be happening.

Nothing's happening yet.

It's just a letter telling you

that you have to go to court.

- So?

- So you go, you show up and you defend yourself.

You can beat this.

You just have to decide.

Remember?

Those are your words.

Has been already decided.

It's obvious that you people

don't want me here.

What is that supposed to mean,

"you people"?

I need to be alone.

Please.

You mean people like me, who let you

live on my couch when you were broke?

And people like Mo and Josh's father,

who gave you a job?

Yeah, we're all busting our asses to help

you, but secretly, we want you to fail.

You have no idea what it's like to struggle your

whole life and have nothing to show for it.

What did you expect?

You were gonna come to New York,

and magically

all your problems are gone?

I thought I could find

a new home,

a place who will judge me by my action,

not by my skin color.

Don't give me that "skin color" crap.

Save that for the judge.

You know what?

I don't care anymore.

They can send me

wherever they want. Okay?

I'm tired of fighting.

They can...

I don't want it.

Fine.

Hello.

Hi, Ibrahim.

This is Diane.

Yes.

We need you here.

Hi.

Hi.

- Good to see you, my friend.

- Good to see you, brother.

Want you to meet someone...

highly recommended immigration attorney.

Earl Miller.

You ready for the fight

of your life?

Why don't you stop by my office sometime?

We can have a little chat.

Ah, Mr. "Jarruh,"

thank you for coming.

- Thank you. Jarrah.

- Oh, Jarrah. Beg your pardon.

Please, have a seat.

Thank you.

Would you like a cup of coffee?

I just brewed some.

It's a hazelnut blend from Sumatra or

something. It's actually quite tasty.

- I'm good, thank you.

- No?

Did you get a chance to review

and sign that document...

I sent over

to your apartment?

Yes. I'm not sure that

I fully understand it.

Don't worry. It's mostly

legal mumbo jumbo anyway.

Essentially it says that, uh, we have 90

days to file a motion on your behalf...

and that you're retaining

my services.

I think there must be

a mistake in it.

It doesn't say anything

about the payment.

- That won't be necessary.

- No, no, Mr. Miller.

- You don't have to do that.

- Ibrahim, please.

These kinds of cases can

usually be very expensive.

And it's ones like yours that remind

me why the hell I even do this work.

Appreciated.

Don't know how to thank you.

Thank me when the trial is over.

Do you really think

that we have a chance?

Well, probably

won't be a home run.

The odds are

a hundred-to-one against us,

but we'll certainly

give it our best shot.

You do have something

in your favor...

Even as a resident alien,

you have certain rights,

and we're gonna get the government

to clarify precisely what those are.

But I won't lie to you.

We have a lot of work to do.

We need a public trial.

If it's private, it's over.

And the only way it'll go public is if

we can get some buzz. You understand?

Yes, understand.

Hmm. First of all,

I need you to tell me everything about you.

- Of course.

- Everything.

Yeah. Hey, Jennifer, do me a favor.

Get me Mike at Channel 10.

I'm calling with some breaking

developments on the Ibrahim Jarrah story.

No, this is not just

another deportation case.

We're talking about a guy

who saved American lives.

You said you could get me 50 people for the

courthouse steps. Can we make it a hundred?

What is your goal here

with this protest?

We want to make sure

that justice is served...

and that Ibrahim Jarrah becomes

a citizen of the United States.

We want him to know that there

are people who care about him...

Yeah.

And who know the truth.

And we're here for him,

and we want him here.

Ibrahim Jarrah plans to contest

what his lawyers call...

an unjust and un-American...

violation of

his civil rights.

Officials are seeking to deport Jarrah

to Lebanon, his country of origin.

Good afternoon. I'm here outside

the immigration courthouse...

with some supporters

of Ibrahim Jarrah,

who are very vocal,

to say the least.

Here I have in the crowd, uh,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes