An Eye on the INS.

If the Elian Gonzalez fiasco has taught us anything, it is that the national media cannot be trusted to put a story in a larger context. The Elian case was a perfect opportunity to consider the record of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which exercises enormous unchecked power. But the media didn't offer much in this regard. For a better view, let me suggest that you watch the documentary "Well-Founded Fear," which kicks off the thirteenth season of the PBS series P.O.V. on June 5 at 9 p.m. (ET).

New York-based filmmakers Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini take us on a tour of the inner workings of the INS asylum process, giving us an unprecedented look at how the government decides who stays and who goes. This is not a documentary that has moments of gun-toting, helmeted brutes who fly into homes in the wee hours of the morning, looking for undocumented people. This is more the civil face of the INS. It ain't that pretty, either.

Robertson and Camerini, to their credit and our benefit, don't take sides. Instead, by laying each case out--without dramatic music, narration, or manipulative camera techniques-they help us understand the complexity of the asylum process, which includes a fair amount of frustration on the part of the INS officers.

However, that frustration turns to cynicism for some, and you wonder how many bad decisions are made out of arrogance or prejudice. Several caseworkers talk openly of their instant suspicion of Chinese applicants because of the use of coaches and past instances of fraud. And there is a particularly disturbing exchange between two asylum officers who feel that they instantly know when someone is lying about involvement in dissidence movements.

The asylum process is portrayed through the stories of three people: a Chinese poet who talks of being brutally beaten, a pregnant Algerian mother who fears that she and her family will be killed if she is sent back, and a Romanian who has become a successful businessman.

On the other side of the desk sit INS asylum officers. They try to do two things: first, to determine if the statements they hear are true; second, to find out if the threat is so great that sending the asylum seekers back to their native land would be detrimental. The legal standard is that applicants will be granted asylum if they can demonstrate a "well-founded fear of persecution." Or, as one case officer puts it, "How are you going to feel if this guy goes back and someone puts a bullet in his head?"

Being an applicant means waiting years for an in-person interview. Then, in less than an hour, these immigrants, many of whom have a poor understanding of English and often rely on lawyers and coaches for aid, dredge up memories and events that they'd rather forget. In some cases, stories may, in fact, be made up. But given our (as well as the INS's) limited knowledge of world events, it's difficult to tell.

After the applicant's testimony, the officer is given ninety minutes to determine if that person should stay or go. The officer must then persuade a supervisor. Two weeks later, the applicant returns to the INS office and is called to a window clerk, who informs the person of his or her fate as casually as a clerk at your local grocery store might tell you an item is in or out of stock.

"At the level of public discourse, the film is about America's relationship to its ideals and to the complexity of living up to an ideal," says Robertson in a P.O.V. press release. "At a personal level, it's about how easy it is to take the distancing role of judge, how ephemeral one's own compassion can be, how hard it is to be fair, and how nearly impossible it is to really know the truth."

You can find out more about "Well-Founded Fear" and the other documentaries to be shown this year on P.O.V. at www.pbs.org/pov.

Note: The NBA is talking about starting a developmental league for basketball players who want to skip college. Good. Baseball has its minor league system--why not basketball? For those who whine that this could ruin college basketball, let's get serious for a minute. College basketball exploits the hell out of its athletes. If a minor league system gives more kids a chance, and pays them while they're at it, I'm all for it.

Fred McKissack is a writer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.