Gina Rodriguez Working on Two Television Shows About Immigrants

Amid the Trump Administration’s hotly debated positions on immigration, actress Gina Rodriguez is working on two timely television pilots centered on Latino immigrants. The shows, which will be aired on the CW and CBS, are all about the Hispanic community. Both programs will be produced by I Can & I Will Productions, the Jane the Virgin star’s multi-media company, and CBS TV Studios.

The first series titled Illegal is based on the life of Rafael Agustin, one of the screenwriters of Jane The Virgin, who was born in Ecuador and immigrated as a child to the United States. The plot of the show, which is also executive produced and written by Agustín, follows the journey of a 16-year-old high school student named Rafael who discovers that he is undocumented.

The second project, under CBS, is a drama titled Have Mercy based on the German show Dr. Illegal. It centers on the life of a Latina doctor who can not practice medicine when she immigrates to Miami, so she starts working as a nurse’s assistant. She puts everything on the line when she opens a clinic in her apartment to serve Latinos in the community.

Rodriguez is pursuing these projects at a very controversial and critical time with respect to immigration policy in the United States: President Donald Trump recently announced the end of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which affects nearly 690,000 immigrants, according to The Washington Post.

The actress was delighted that her projects received positive feedback on social networks. “I saw a lot of kids in my feed happy that their stories — or at least an aspect — are finally getting told,” she told The Los Angeles Times. “I’m not just talking about DACA or undocumented. I’m talking about all Latinos in this country wanting to feel present in this country and loved and supported.”

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