UNTITLED IMMIGRATION STORY

IN PRODUCTION

As a boy growing up in Mexico, Miguel dreamed of becoming a father. But as he came to understand that he was gay, he feared that the family he imagined would never be possible. Pressured to conform to the machismo culture around him, Miguel hid his sexuality and pretended to date women.

“My childhood was somewhat tough on me because since I was very young, I started to think I was gay,” Miguel said. “I didn’t know how to handle it.”

The situation was difficult, and so he left Mexico.

After moving to the United States, he met Luis, a vivacious Puerto Rican man from Queens who had built a career caring for children in the foster system. Having taken care of his little sisters all his life, Luis had always wanted a large family of his own. They fell in love in New York City, married, and moved out of the state to settle down. Still, Miguel continued to struggle with his sexuality and being undocumented, and developed depression and an alcohol problem. Sometimes he’d drink until he blacked out and stay in his room all day. As they started fostering kids, it helped Miguel, and he began to heal. He and Luis finally created the family Miguel once believed was out of reach.

Nearly 20 years later, Miguel and Luis are still together, raising adopted children with disabilities, and throughout the years have opened their home to more foster children in need.

“When I met Luis and the kids, I considered them my children, and I never thought: They’re not my blood or, They’re other people’s,” Miguel said. “That mental barrier of thinking of being a biological father; these kids have filled that part for me.”

But Miguel is undocumented. He was on the path to become a green card holder through President Biden’s “Keep Families Together,” until that program was eliminated under the current administration. The family spent thousands of dollars on an attorney to help with the process.

Now, every day has become an emotional struggle as Miguel grapples with the fear that he might lose the life and family he built together with Luis and his kids.

Told at the intersection of one man’s fight to keep his chosen family, Untitled M&L explores fatherhood, family, disability, and love.