What Superstore Gets Right About Mateo's Immigration Story

In this episode we examine two episodes from the very funny NBC sitcom SUPERSTORE, which stars America Ferrera and Ben Feldman, and follows a whole gang of wacky and endearing characters working in a fictional big box store.

For our purposes we are going to focus on Mateo, an immigrant from the Philippines who is undocumented and discovers that getting a promotion in the store could mean that he will be discovered and threatened with deportation, as we will see, through some comic and, in some cases touching, circumstances.

As with so many of the films and TV we have examined so far, the writers have taken liberties with the truth in order to create drama and comedy.

However, out of all the TV shows and movies that we have watched to date for "Immigration at the Movies", SUPERSTORE, we feel. most accurately reflects the dilemma that many foreign national children who become undocumented adults face in the United States -- the land of immense opportunity but incredibly limited options to become "legal".

SUPERSTORE, using both humor and heartache, shows the impact that a person's immigration status has on themselves as well as their family and community.