(dramatic instrumental music) - Hello and good evening.

I'm Susi Elkins, WKAR General Manager and Director of Broadcasting here at MSU.

I'm so glad that we can come together like this in person and connect with those of you online to view tonight's film, "American Exile."

I'd like to thank our presenting partners for making this evening possible: the School of Journalism, the Film Studies program, and the Chicano Latino Studies program here at MSU.

And community partners, including the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency and the MSU Student Veterans Resource Center.

And of course thank you to the WKAR members and donors for their ongoing support, that helps make events like this screening possible.

WKAR is committed to an ideal: hear every voice, share every story.

This new documentary, "American Exile," is a product of that commitment.

It's been seven years in the making, as the filmmakers followed Manuel and Valente Valenzuela to capture the story of their efforts to be heard by policy makers at the highest level of government.

On our panel for conversation after the film are U.S. Marine Corps veteran Manuel Valenzuela and Gold Star mother, Olivia Segura, both of whom appear in the film.

And the filmmakers, John Valadez and Carleen Hsu on our faculty here at MSU.

The panel will be moderated by Prabu David, Dean of our own College of Communication Arts and Sciences.

Before we present tonight's film, I have this warning: "American Exile" contains graphic war images and depictions of violence.

Viewer discretion is advised.

We do have counseling services available here tonight for any who find the film or the panel discussion distressing.

Please see any WKAR staff member for assistance.

For those watching online, if you are experiencing anxiety or other negative feelings, please turn off the film.

We'll be back in studio for discussion at approximately 8:05 if you'd like to rejoin the livestream.

Thank you for joining us tonight as we share this story with you, and please let us hear your voice in the conversation that follows.

For those with us in the studio, please use the note cards provided to jot down a question or comment for our panelists.

We'll collect them at the end of the film.

For those online, please enter a comment or a question in the chat window.

And now to introduce the film, I'm pleased to present this recorded message from MSU President Samuel L. Stanley.

- Hello, I'm Michigan State University President Sam Stanley.

The film you're about to preview tells a remarkable story of two brothers whose quest for justice helped move national policy and bring thousands of deported veterans and families back home to the United States.

"American Exile" will be broadcast across the country on PBS, the evening of November 16th.

This film was influential even before it was finished.

The filmmakers, MSU Professors of Practice, John Valadez and Carleen Hsu spoke and showed excerpts at a Congressional Briefing.

I hope the filmmakers took great pride, when last July, President Joe Biden ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create a process to bring deported veterans and their families back to the United States.

This project is a demonstration that original scholarship and research and unwavering commitment can lead to a more just future.

"American Exile" is a product of a collaboration involving eight programs and four MSU colleges.

I want to thank College of Communication Arts and Sciences Dean Prabu David for his leadership.

Along with Susi Elkins and all the talented folks at WKAR for their commitment to public media.

And most of all, to the filmmakers for their talent and dedication in bringing us this film.

Thank you for viewing this important story.

(audience applauding) - I'm so glad that we could share this film with you tonight on this day that we set aside to honor our military veterans.

And I'd now like to introduce you to our panel.

Manuel Valenzuela served in Vietnam in 1971 as part of the 3rd Marine Division, stationed aboard the USS Duluth, an amphibious warship.

The Fighting 3rd lost more than 3,000 Marines killed in Vietnam.

With his brother Valente, Manuel helped lead the effort to stop the deportation of veterans, as we've just seen in tonight's film.

Olivia Segura is a Gold Star Mother.

Her daughter Ashley died while on active duty in Kuwait in 2007.

Olivia's efforts to halt the deportation of her husband are highlighted in the film we've just seen.

John J. Valadez is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker who has directed a dozen nationally-broadcast documentary films for PBS and CNN.

John wrote, produced and directed "American Exile."

John is a Professor of Practice in the School of Journalism and the Film Studies Program, and director of the documentary film program, The Doc Lab here at MSU.

Carleen L. Hsu has produced and co-produced long-form, non-fiction films for HBO, PBS, Learning Channel, BBC, CBS, and Channel 4 UK.

Ling produced and was the editor of "American Exile."

Ling is also a Professor of Practice in the School of Journalism and the Film Studies program here at MSU.

And the moderator for tonight's discussion is Prabu David, Dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences here at MSU.

Prabu is a social scientist who studies the social and psychological influences of technology in daily life.

He examines topics such as multitasking, mobile health, social media, and wellness.

Prabu is also host of "Life, Meet Tech," a new podcast from WKAR.

Prabu, thank you for being our moderator tonight.

- Susi, thank you so much.

And thank you all for joining us on Veterans Day.

We truly appreciate it.

And thank you so much for a story that is so powerful and gripping.

John, tell us, what prompted you to take this on?

What a project.

- Well, first of all, I want to say thank you, Prabu, and thank you, Susi and WKAR.

And I do want to say that today's a little bit of a special day because, oh boy, it's the anniversary of when Ashley was killed in combat in Iraq.

- [Prabu] I'm so sorry.

- Yeah.

So it's a very, in a sense it's a sad day, but I think there's also much to celebrate, which hopefully we'll get to in this discussion.

To your question, what prompted me?

I guess the first thing that popped into my mind when Manuel and Valente told me about their situation was, I kind of didn't really believe it.

I mean, what, the U.S. deporting military veterans?

It seemed so out of character with this country.

And indeed we do not have a legacy or a heritage of doing such a thing.

Foreign nationals have fought in our armed forces since the Revolutionary War.

The second thing that came to my mind was, I thought, you know, if this is true, the American people would probably, if they knew about it, they would be deeply offended and outraged.

And then the third thing that popped into my mind was that, you know what?

I bet those people, veterans who are being deported, I'll bet you, they're probably all people of color.

Okay?

Because we do have a heritage in this country of deporting U.S. citizens, namely Mexican Americans.

And as a Chicano, it's part of the trauma that I'm very aware of.

And I saw it in Manuel and Valente, and the devastation that's been done to our community because generation after generation, we've been deported out of the country.

And this seemed to be the latest iteration of a longer historical tale.

And so I knew that this was more than the story of just two men.

It said something about who we are as a country and where we might go in the future.

- That's terrific.

How did you connect with Manuel and Valente?

- Well, these guys showed up at a screening.

I had done a film about the birth of Mexican-American civil rights, and part of what I do is I usually do a national screening tour when I finish a film.

And I target Latino communities, and I go to community centers and to Hispanic-serving institutions and high schools, and reach out to them so that they can understand that the Mexican-American experience is part of the American experience, 'cause a lot of 'em don't know that.

And these two guys came up to me and, you know, told me that they had a story for me.

And we ended up spending one or two days together, showing me their photos from Vietnam, their discharge papers, and telling me their story.

And I think, and you know, maybe Manuel can confirm this, that we had a kind of a connection right off the bat.

We kind of understood each other.

I think it had to do that we're both Chicano and we're Mexican American, and we just understood something about our common experience.

And it became almost an instant bond, I think.

- That's terrific.

Carleen, six, seven years in the making, it's a powerful story, but also it's a beautifully-made film.

I mean, every aspect of it, and you were sort of the creative touch behind all of this.

What do you think?

What are your impressions now?

- Well, okay, before we go anywhere, I want to say, you guys, that these two people here right now are so brave.

So, thank you for opening your lives to us.

(audience applauding) Because it's no small task to be vulnerable and tell your story, 'cause it's very emotional, as you guys saw, it's very emotional and painful.

And also you have to deal with me and John, and that's a pain in the ass in itself.

(laughs) For so many years.

Right, Manuel?

So anyway.

But to the story, you know, it was a long process.

But we knew on the outset that this is an unfolding story.

So we were kind of in it for the long haul.

The thing as an editor, which is very complicated, is I get all this beautiful footage.

So thank you, John.

And actually, Pete Johnston is out here somewhere.

He did additional camera for us, and students who worked on the film, I don't know if they're here.

But they bring all this footage, hundreds of hours, and it's my job to kind of weave together a story that not only tells us about the facts and the situation, political situation, but it has the emotion.

So the audience kind of lives through what our characters lived through.

And that's kind of the number-one thing is emotion, right?

So, if any of you guys were moved out there, that means I did my job.

(laughs) So.

- Absolutely moved, yes.

So Manuel, tell us about being moved.

That this is a story that's been living inside of you, now you see it on film.

What are your thoughts?

- Well, first of all, I want to say, thank you, John, Ling, and mostly to the Michigan State University for having us here.

- [Prabu] Oh, you're welcome.

- It's been a long struggle, and this is the first viewing.

And it's powerful to me.

I give you a salute to this.

I'm saying, you know what?

Michigan State University- (audience applauding) You're it.

(audience and panelists applauding) I have, we've known each other, how many years?

Seven, eight, nine years?

Seven years.

And it's been a long struggle on this, 'cause while he was over there, I took it to a point by even going and meeting deported veterans and their families.

And let me tell you, it's a world that you don't even want to see.

And it's heartbreaking to go across to Mexico and see the guys, they're Marines, I mean, like me.

Their sacrifice, Vietnam veterans out there, I met 'em, they were deported.

For years and years I didn't know this.

I guess God gave me this gift to, I asked one day, give me something, a meaning to live.

Is that PTSD that we search in each other?

I was suffering from that.

But when this happened, He gave me this mission, I had the opportunity to meet these guys, deported, crying, helpless.

That took me to step up hard and more stronger, because I have even met the senators, congressmen, all of 'em, even presidents, even Bill Clinton, I met him.

And told him, what did you do to us?

Please go back and clean this mess.

I have done so many walks on this Earth guiding this.

It's been years.

And I have to say, from the veterans that I've met and cried and stood by them, and I said, my last mission in Vietnam, we went and got some guys out of the jungle who were dead.

And we never leave nobody behind, never.

We always bring each other home, no matter who we are: Army, Navy, we're all brothers and sisters.

We bring each other home, and I gave 'em my oath, I will not stop until you are home.

(panelists vocalizing in agreement) And that oath, every veteran, you can stop in the road, ask 'em how they feel about that.

They will tell you, we're proud to have that in here.

And to have that within ourselves and been crawling in the jungle, and knowing that my brother right here, no matter what, we'll protect each other, we'll fight together and we'll bring each other home no matter what.

And we keep it forever.

And from there, I got to see and hear 'em.

And then they gave me their mothers' and fathers' and their families' addresses.

I personally went and met 'em, the families.

They cried on my shoulders.

You can not ever imagine the pain.

You talk about PTSD and the hell, the things I had to do in Vietnam, that is nothing compared to the families crying on my shoulder.

I even took, I traveled to five funerals of a deported veteran, died in Mexico, deported over 15 years, got killed, and brought to the border in a coffin and put an American flag on it, and then they took it to the families, and bury 'em with military honors.

What kind of America is this?

I didn't go to Vietnam to see this.

I see so much destruction in this America, babies in cages.

I didn't go to protect the people of Vietnam for this, and come back later on years, and see this happening.

This is wrong, people.

I'm proud to tell you, I'm so grateful, I'm so at peace now, to see this University really stood up and doing something.

You are the leaders of this country.

And I'm so proud to say, thank you.

And I know I'm taking a lot.

I'm sorry, but this is very emotional to me.

All week I've been marching with professor here, John Valadez and Ling, doing classes.

And I always tell my story, and I just want to ask one question.

If you please answer this honestly.

How many of you knew that they were deporting veterans?

Raise your hands.

Look, people, that's just a few.

This country is wrong.

Homeland Security is hiding all this stuff.

We have to stand up.

Our brothers and sisters and our families are being done wrong.

We all gotta stand together.

And we all gotta find out a way to, and which I know it is, to stand up and say, no way.

We can't accept this.

But I'm from very proud, and go ahead.

- [Prabu] Thank you so much, thank you for your service to our country.

- Thank you.

(audience applauding) - It really takes courage to fight battles, but it takes a lot more courage to do what you're doing today.

And the impact on the veterans is really, this is a monumental film.

It'll have a difference, so thank you for being here today on Veterans Day.

- Can I mention one thing today that happened, right before we came over here.

I'm so happy, even this name, Robert Vivar, Vivar, he was deported; he's the father of an active Marine.

For about 14 years, he'd been deported.

Today he stepped in, footprints into America.

They brought him back to America.

(audience applauding) He coordinated all the veterans deported right there in Tijuana.

He did all that, very intelligent.

Paperwork and helped all the deported veterans.

To me, he's a hero.

He walked in today.

So I'm so happy to tell you that, that I'm very happy.

I'm gonna go all the way to San Diego and go hug him and the family.

Go ahead.

- Very good.

Thank you so much.

Olivia, we're really sorry for your loss.

Today, the day when you lost your daughter.

What does the film mean to you?

- Well, first of all, I would like to thank the University of Michigan and everybody that is here because this is the first time since my daughter died that I really feel that someone is honoring my daughter with this film.

Because to me, all the parades and everything, they say that that's how they honor our veterans, it's all just a lie.

In other words, I have seen politicians gain from my pain.

And today is the really, really first time that I see that somebody with this film is exposing the truth, what happened.

For me, it's hard to see this film because you'll just remind me everything that I went through.

I lost 12 years of my life fighting for my husband to be able to stay with me.

And I finally won his case two years ago.

And I don't think anybody that has lost... We have given everything for this country, and on top of that, instead of helping us, what they did is just tried to separate my family and put us in a worse situation.

I also suffer from PSTD because you know, everything has been so traumatic.

I not even have the right to see my daughter's body when she died, so it has been really, really hard.

- [Prabu] I can imagine, yeah.

- But thank you, and I'm really happy to sit here, and I thank everyone that is here tonight.

- Thank you.

(audience and panelists applauding) So we have quite a few questions from our audience.

And we have very little time, so I'm gonna ask you to do some quick responses to some of these very thoughtful and thought-provoking questions here.

Here's a question, maybe one of you can take it.

Perhaps we should give it to Manuel here.

Why is the U.S. military so hard on its Chicano soldiers and veterans?

We have been some of the most highly decorated, Medal of Honor soldiers ever.

Is this racist?

- It definitely is.

Look at my brother, he had a Bronze Star.

A Bronze Star, and he'd get a removal notice from this country.

That is very racist, this country.

- Since the bill was passed in July, have people of families started coming back home who were deported?

- So it wasn't the bill that was...

So in July, President Biden ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create a process to bring back deported veterans and their families.

So that was by executive caveat.

So no legislation to date has passed, however, Axios just reported today that a group of democratic senators are prepared to bring a bill to the floor, to bring back deported veterans.

(audience applauding) Here's the kicker, Prabu, here's the kicker.

This is all, you know, the Biden executive order, now the push for legislation, it's all the culmination of the activism that Manuel and his brother have done, that Olivia has done, that many groups have done: Veterans for Peace, the ACLU, the Deported Veterans House in Tijuana.

Ling I went to Washington D.C. to give testimony before a congressional briefing on deported veterans, and we showed clips from the film, the film that we and students here at MSU made.

Those students went with us to Mexico and California and Arizona and Colorado and Illinois and Maryland and Washington D.C., and were actually part of the crew here.

And there was not a dry eye in the house in that congressional briefing, I swear to God.

People were so moved.

And after that, not much really happened, until there was another election cycle, there was a new Commander in Chief installed in the White House.

And that's when Biden did that executive order.

So what is the lesson?

That our research here, our creative work here at Michigan State University, right?

We do our due diligence, we find the facts, we work with people, we share stories, we work with legislators and we get things changed through the democratic process through peaceful means because you know what?

Democracy works.

It can work.

You don't need to storm some Capitol building with sticks and clubs and start beating people.

(audience applauding) You do it the right way, through knowledge and by spanning divides of difference and finding new connections for positive change and understanding and empathy.

And that's what we do here at Michigan State University.

And that's the thing that I'm the most proud of, you know?

- It sounds like, this will sound like hyperbole, but it's actually saving lives.

You know, 'cause you have to understand, when you're a deported veteran, if you have PTSD, emotional and physical wounds, and you don't have access to your VA benefits and healthcare, it literally is like a death sentence in some cases.

And in fact, if you saw the last image on screen, I don't know if you guys remember it.

It was eight, was it eight photographs of veterans who died in exile, and died while we were making this film.

- While we were making this film, those people died.

And now because of the work that we've all done here, all of us, no more faces or names are gonna be added to that list, and families are gonna be brought back together.

And that's, that is really meaningful.

It's more meaningful than a movie, 'cause that's helping people and making the country a better place.

- What I can say sounds this simple.

They give me hope and they restore my life.

If you seen the last picture, I'm not crying anymore.

I'm with my husband, I'm starting a new life, I'm trying to heal, I'm trying to start all over again.

So that's something that I think that has no value.

So keep doing this work, please.

- Very good.

Seven years, here's a question.

Did you think it's going to take that long until this film?

(panelists laughing) - Oh my God!

You know what?

That's a long time.

But it takes as long as it takes, right?

You just know, you know that there's another thing that needs to be filmed.

And you know when it's the end of the story.

And now after... We didn't know about Biden's announcement in July.

That was added on later.

But when Valente found love, you know, and when he had his book release, and he felt like he was healing, we knew that that was kind of wrapping up now.

- Yes, that was such a powerful vignette, a component of the story.

- It's so- - You know, coming- - Oh, go ahead, Manuel.

- Coming through all this, you know I have all these brothers that served in the military: my older brother Army, and then my one-year-older brother Navy.

I'm a Marine, and then the Air Force brother, and then Army, you know those brothers who were so scared, they said, don't tell 'em I'm your brother.

Win the war and then I'll be your brother.

(laughs) You know what I'm saying?

That's how this country has been going on too long.

This government put fear on people.

And that's what I'm saying, you know, thank you, Michigan.

You guys did this.

Stand up and be strong because you know, this country doesn't even understand the strength and power that all of us have.

And that's all it is right here.

Nobody can do that wrong to us.

You know, we can stand up and say, no way.

And there's people like him, like John and Ling, and all of us to stand together and help you.

We all can help each other.

And we can show the world that we are better than you know, what it's supposed to be.

Right now it's not good hiding this, and I'm proud to be here.

Thank you for very much.

- [Prabu] Thank you.

- But my brothers are still scared.

Hopefully we can open them up and say, get your uniform back on.

(laughs) But go ahead.

- Good.

I don't have my glasses because it's fogging.

I don't know what time it is.

Someone has to come up here and give me a cue when we are supposed to.

So I have to put my glasses on.

Okay, we have 10 minutes left?

Okay, terrific.

How many students do we have in the audience?

Can we see some hands?

Oh, look at that.

That is terrific.

(panelists applauding) Thank you.

- [Manuel] Okay, can I ask a question?

- [Prabu] Yes.

- [Manuel] There's one, there she is, with blue hair.

There you go.

I told you I'd be seeing you today, good.

(claps) Very proud of you, thank you.

- So that, you know, with the blue hair or whatever color the hair is, this is the next generation we have, and they are the hope.

So, here is a wonderful question: what can we do to ensure that our veterans get fair treatment?

That their concerns are addressed?

PTSD as well as this, you know, that they get the respect they deserve.

What can we do as citizens and folks that want to support?

- I think that basically doing your research when you're voting, and also writing letters to congressmen and just writing your opinion or participating more in the political system, because that is important, to be participating.

They listen, but they listen more when more have the same opinion.

- Ultimately democracy does work, you guys.

Sometimes it's a little sketchy, right?

But for you students, you just have to keep your eyes and ears open and be educated about what's happening.

I mean, that's really what it is.

- [Manuel] We've got a question right there.

- [Prabu] Question there?

- [Manuel] Yes, ma'am.

(guest speaking off mic) - [Guest] Wanna know what it is they can do.

Become active in the immigration process.

- [Carleen] Yeah.

- [Guest] Support the bills.

When you see email come through and it says, call your representative, please do that.

The more people we call, the more voices there is, the more they're gonna be encouraged to do the right thing.

Make those changes to the immigration process because it's so broken, and so many families are suffering.

(guest speaking off mic) - [Manuel] Thank you.

- [Olivia] Thank you.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

Here is a question about other folks, other folks you encountered while making the film.

Were you able to tell all the stories?

Or how did you pick the stories you chose to tell?

- You know what?

You could make a film that went on for days and days and days, if you tried to include everybody.

I mean, I guess what I will mention is, one of the guys who is, you know, died while he was in exile is a guy named Hector Barrios.

Were you with me, Manuel, when we went, when I was in Tijuana with him?

Or was that?

- Yeah, we went to his little house.

- [John] His little house.

Yeah.

- [Manuel] 101st.

He had all his medals.

Sorry about this.

- [John] No, no, no.

It's okay.

- [Manuel] One thing about him he was this short little guy.

Short little guy, but you know what?

- [John] Shorter than me.

And that's amazing.

- Shorter than him.

But one of the most kindest and the most bravest person in the world.

You know what his job was in Vietnam?

He was a tunnel rat.

You know what a tunnel rat is?

You heard of that?

He had to go in those tunnels, 'cause the enemy... How do you say that?

- [John] The Vietcong.

- The Vietcong, they would do tunnels.

And we would be marching through there, in the jungle, and then they'd pop out of those tunnels (vocalizes) at us, you know?

They would find 'em and he would, he volunteered to go in there and get 'em.

Now that is brave.

But the most kindest, you know how he was living when he got deported?

By making tacos in the street and barely making a life.

But he had all these decorations on the wall, remember?

Vietnam and man.

But for him to die like that, deported, and the family, they said, we don't want him back to America to be buried like that after what they did to him.

That's no honor.

And I myself feel so bad about it that I would love to go talk to the family again and say, we get everybody home.

Please let him come back over here with us.

You know what I'm saying?

To give him the honor that he deserved.

He's still there.

- So, you know, in the film you saw that Manuel voted in Colorado.

And that's because the states control who votes, and you have to be a citizen, but the federal government does foreign policy.

And so while the federal government says Manuel's not a citizen, the state government says he is.

And now he could face eight years in prison if the federal government would prosecute him.

But this happens more often than you think.

So, Hector Barrios, when he had his DD214, his discharge papers, the Army marked on it and the Army believed that he was a U.S. citizen.

It says there on his discharge papers: U.S. citizen.

And yet, so the military says he's a citizen but the federal government doesn't.

The federal government says Manuel's not a citizen, but the state government does.

And it just raises this question: what does it mean to be American?

Is it an accident of birth?

Is it a piece of paper?

What about patriotism in a time of national crisis?

What about service and sacrifice for your community?

What about longevity in place?

Right, what about Distinguished Medals of Honor?

Because you served and you put your life on the line for somebody else.

What about family connections?

What does that deportation do to those families?

And then how does that echo throughout the community?

Think about Mexican-American communities or Latino communities.

And you wonder why there are so few Latinos with degrees in higher education.

Why we have such a challenge bringing them into this school and other universities across the country, because generation after generation, they too are traumatized.

You know, it's a larger, larger picture.

And Hector made me think of that.

That's the thing that we need to, I think, keep in mind, because in the end, "American Exile" is not so much about the veterans, but in a sense it's about all of us.

Because those policies are a reflection of either our activism or our apathy.

It's a reflection of who we are.

- [Prabu] Well said, John.

Hi.

- [Guest] All your medals.

- Vietnam Service Medal, Combat in Vietnam, National Defense, and the Marine Corps emblem with Iraq.

(guest speaks off mic) Yeah, thank you.

Once a Marine, always a Marine.

You know, so thank you.

- I have someone in the audience, this is really a very important thought and a question.

The person writes: I had two brothers who served in Vietnam.

One came home okay, and the other one still has problems and is still fighting for benefits as a veteran.

And would you like to stand up?

We'd like to recognize you on Veterans Day for the sacrifice your brothers made.

(audience and panelists applauding) Thank you for the question.

What do you say, Manuel?

- I myself, I barely got 60%, 2018.

I've been out of the Marines from Vietnam in '71 to '75, then I got out in '77.

I barely got 60%.

It's hard to get it through the VA. And that's one thing that we've got to start looking at.

The VA really is controlled by the government, too.

And it's hard to get help, and especially of color, too.

Not just that, it's getting worse.

And the benefits, even right now, I do notice the young veterans, the soldiers that get out right now are, you know, of white color, you know, 100%, boom!

And I say, man, well, we're about to die and we still haven't even got our benefits right.

You know what I'm saying?

And our medical thing, they just give us for pain and that's it.

We don't really get help like we should in the VA. And a lot of that money, I don't know what's happening with the government.

You know, when I first got that RV in 2018, I got it and I wrapped it.

I took that trip, I said to myself, I'm going state to state, capital to capital.

Every state, every Capitol I stopped.

And I stopped in Denver at the Capitol first, and then I went to Santa Fe, the capital, because my mother was born in Santa Fe.

And figure this out, and I was born in Mexico and they're trying to deport me.

Deport me to America where my mom was born, you know?

But the idea is I went to all these Capitols.

Mind you, and I went, walked in there, marble floors, marble walls, marble ceilings, and the senators and congressmen walking around with thousand-dollar suits.

I said, wow!

I mean, huge.

Even Utah, the one Capitol there, huge.

I said, my God!

Then when I walk out to open the door and walk outside, veterans living in the streets.

Not just veterans, people living in the streets, but mostly 90-80% are veterans.

And I looked and I said, wow, this is wrong.

This is definitely wrong, and it's going worse.

We have to stand together and do something about this, because why build a Capitol so beautiful and all that money, billions and billions, yet we can't afford taking care of veterans and the people that need help?

That's where the money's going.

Look around and start speaking out about it, 'cause we need to get this straightened out.

Veterans should get taken care of better.

And the people of United States should be taken care of.

Okay.

- Thank you.

We are out of time, they say, but there is one important question from the livestream.

Where can we get Valente's book?

Maybe we'll post it on our website or do we know how we can get ahold of it?

Is it on Amazon or?

- [Carleen] At the moment, it's in Spanish.

- It's in in Spanish.

- [Carleen] It's only in Spanish.

If you speak Spanish, you can come up to me and ask.

(laughs) And I can find something out for you.

But it's in the process of being translated.

- [Manuel] Yeah, he's getting it translated.

- [Prabu] Okay.

- [Manuel] Transferred.

- [John] We'll make it available.

- [Carleen] Yeah.

- [John] As soon as it is.

But it'll take some time.

But yeah, absolutely.

- Terrific.

And I think I want to give the last question to Olivia.

You're a Gold Star Mom, and you saw the film today.

When you were seeing the scenes about your daughter in the story, did you sense healing?

- It is healing because when she passed away, when she returned home, her body, I was not able to see her body.

It was closed-coffin because it got destroyed.

And over time, you know, like the first month, the first year, the second year, I could not even say Ashley because I'd start crying.

So time has passed by.

Me being in Washington, telling my story in the news and all over the country, doing all that activism, it has healed me.

But today, looking at her, you know, it hurts to see her.

It's like, I'm always gonna have this pain.

You know, I can, I can deal with this more, but it's always gonna hurt not having her with me because I feel, I feel that was an injustice that she died.

I'm never gonna have Christmas, I never gonna have...

I never gonna have grandchildren.

(sobs) I'm sorry.

I'm never gonna have grandchildren, I'm never gonna have Christmas, (sobs) New Years or holidays.

So, it's always gonna hurt not having my daughter with me.

I try to be better every day, but sometimes it's really hard.

Some days are better than others, but for a mother that lost a child, not only that she's in the military, any mother, it's something really hard to deal with.

- We're really sorry for your loss.

And thank you for sharing your story with us.

And thank you all for joining us tonight, and what a powerful film.

Thank you.

And thanks to everyone for joining us.

(audience applauding) - Thank you, all.

Please help me and join me in thanking Manuel Venezuela, Olivia Segura, John Valadez, and Carleen Hsu.

And thank you, Prabu, for leading what has been a fascinating discussion.

I'm so proud of the storytellers we have with us, creating, teaching and learning here at MSU.

Their dedication and talent has led to this opportunity to tell this very important story on the national stage, and to make real our commitment to hear every voice and share every story.

"American Exile" airs on WKAR TV and most PBS stations nationwide next Tuesday, November 16th at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

You can also find it streaming at that time in the free PBS app.

Again, I'd like to thank our presenting partners for making this evening possible: the School of Journalism, the Film Studies program, and the Chicano Latino Studies program, and our WKAR members and donors for their ongoing support that makes events like tonight possible.

For our in-person guests, you're welcome to mingle with us here for a chance to meet and chat with tonight's panelists.

Thank you all for coming.

(audience applauds) (dramatic instrumental music)