Ugly Betty's Undocumented Dad Fights for Immigration Reform

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-02-10 17:43:00 UTC
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It's a Wednesday night, which means that I'll soon be watching Ugly Betty, my favorite story of a gold-hearted misfit on her way to making it big, losing some naivete and finding some fashion sense along the way. And my I'm really feeling the Betty love after coming across a 30-second ad featuring Tony Plana, the actor who plays Betty Suarez's sweetheart of a dad on T.V.

In the Spanish-language ad, set to air in Nevada as part of a Reform Immigration for America campaign, Plana encourages listeners to fight for comprehensive immigration reform.

These days, the character Plana plays on Ugly Betty, Ignacio Suarez, sticks to cooking up delicious Mexican meals and filling the overprotective father role. But back in the first season, Ignacio rocked the family boat when it was discovered that he was undocumented and faced the imminent prospect of deportation. At the time, Plana himself was surprised that the show would target such a controversial issue, but said of the experience, "it was a lesson for me that people wanted more out of television than just entertainment." Of course, the award-winning Ugly Betty, which sadly is set to be canceled, pretty much staked its reputation on not shying away from controversy: with an unwed mother, a gay son, and a transgender woman, just to name a few plot points, the show is pushing those conservative hot buttons.

I remember the dramatic immigration storyline, which included Ignancio's story of fleeing Mexico with Betty's mother, rescuing her from an abusive domestic situation, an immigration caseworker who tries to take advantage of his situation to seduce him, and a frustrating bureaucracy that stands by unphased while Betty's family is torn apart by the prospect of losing Ignancio to a country his American-born daughters have never even been to. Yes, much of it is hilarious, melodramatic, and outlandish -- but the issue at the core is also serious, human, and real. And that's why Ignacio Suarez and Tony Plana both support immigration reform.

Photo credit: Kwintin

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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