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Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and 'Carne y Arena' cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki attend a Cannes photocall.(Photo: Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images)

CANNES, France One of the best things at this year'sCannes Film Festivalisn't a movie, at least in a traditional sense.

Carne y Arena("Flesh and Sand") is a groundbreaking virtual-reality exhibit that invites visitors to step into the shoes of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Created by Oscar-winning director Alejandro Gonzlez Irritu (The Revenant, Birdman), the seven-minute installation drops participantsinto the middle of a chilly desert at dusk, where a group of weary, multi-generational Hispanicfamilies are spotted by helicopters and caughtby U.S. Border Patrol agents.

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The simulation, which runs through Sunday at Cannes before opening in Los Angelesin July, is housed in an airplane hangar 15 minutes away from the festival center. Upon arrival, visitors are escorted one by one into an austere holding room, where the recovered shoes of actual migrants are strewn across the floor. There, theyare asked to remove their own shoes and socks before entering a giant square room filled with coarse, cold sand. Attendants then strap on VRheadsets and backpacks, which are attached to a wire hanging from the center of the room to ensure participantsdon't wander into a wall.

The story that unfolds is equal parts chilling and harrowing. Migrants shriek and scatteras vehicles with blinding headlights close in on them. Border agents armed with machine guns bark orders and force them on the ground, where a dehydrated old woman is cradled by a crying family member. Small children play with toys before they are thrown into a van, just as a teenage boy is pushed onto the hood of a car by a belligerent officer. As the sun rises on the barren desert the next morning, all that remains are their scattered shoes and belongings in billowing dust.

A visitor in a virtual-reality headset explores 'Carne y Arena' at Cannes Film Festival.(Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival)

Part of what makes the immersive film so affecting to watch is thatIrritu asked undocumented immigrants not professional actors to recreate their actual experiences of trying to cross the border illegally. Real-world elements also add authenticity: Cold gusts of air hit visitors'cheeks as they trek barefoot through the gritty sand, with sounds of sirens and helicopters droning. The photorealistic avatars walk right alongside participants, and in one especially unsettling moment, a border agent yellsin their faces, demanding that they geton theirknees withhands up.

Carne y Arenaviscerally, and emotionally, puts a human face to the plight of illegal immigrants. But it isn't the only project at Cannes this year to spotlight migrant stories.

In her heartfelt documentarySea Sorrow, actress/activist Vanessa Redgravemakes an impassioned pleafor developed nations to open their borders to refugeesfrom war-torn Middle Eastern nations such as Syria and Afghanistan. Hungarian drama Jupiter's Moon is an unconventional superhero fable, about a Syrian refugee (Zsombor Jger) who discovers he can fly after getting shot crossing the Serbian-Hungarian border. Although met with boos at Cannes, the ambitious filmpoignantly illustrates how people fear and often violently react to those who are seen asdifferent.

Syrian refugee Aryan (Zsombor Jger) gets the power to levitate in the divisive 'Jupiter's Moon.'(Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival)

Then there's the final scene of Michael Haneke's French-language dramaHappy End, in which the guilt-ridden Pierre Laurent (Franz Rogowski) bargesinto his mother, Anne's(Isabelle Huppert), bougie seaside weddingparty with a group of unassumingAfrican refugees.

Disgusted byhis family's prosperous construction firm, and condescending treatment of their Moroccan live-in servants, Pierre attempts to sharethe migrants' stories withthe stunned crowd, but is promptly punchedby his uncle Thomas (Mathieu Kassovitz)and dragged out of the room. Afterward, Anne apologizesfor her son's outburstand awkwardly arranges a table for the group of men to stay for lunch.

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The scene is perhaps the only timein the movie which is competing for Cannes' prestigious Palme d'Or award on Sunday that the self-possessed Laurents are forced to look beyond their upper-class privilege towhat's going on right outside their mansion doors. At a news conference earlier this week, Haneke (the Oscar-winningAmour) expressed his distaste with such a narrow worldview.

"It's hard to talk about contemporary society without referring to how blind some people are to real life," Haneke said."There's a certain bitterness in (Happy End)about the way we liveand how we're so deeply involved in ourselves. That really annoys me. ... We have the impression that we're well-informed, but we really know nothing."

The well-to-do Laurent clan at the heart of Michael Haneke's 'Happy End' gets an unexpected dose of reality when a group of refugees turn up at a family gathering.(Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival)

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Cannes: VR exhibit shines sympathetic light on illegal immigration - USA TODAY

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In a new report by Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), an organization that advocates for more legal immigration and defends illegal immigration, the group alleges that 15 percent of the 4 million illegal immigrants living in just seven southern U.S. states may be eligible for amnesty.

The amnesty for the 600,000 illegal immigrants, CLINIC says, is based on claims from the individuals that they came to the U.S. after facing persecution abroad or because they have family already living in the country.

A research who worked on the report for CLINIC told Reuters that President Donald Trumps administration should not be deporting illegal immigrants to begin with.

As we ramp up immigration enforcement in the United States, we should take this figure and remind ourselves that we shouldnt deport first and then ask questions, University of California at San Diego researcher Tom Wong said.

Wong said the number of illegal immigrants who he believes could get amnesty may be higher, as only states like Texas, Georgia, and Florida were outlined in the study.

There are approximately 11-30 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S., costing taxpayers an estimated $113 billion while also putting a strain on public hospitals, public housing, and public education systems.

Most recently, the open borders lobby has been pushing hard to end the Trump administrations enforcement of federal immigration law.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerbergs pro-immigration group, FWD.us, recently stated that enforcing immigration law hurts public safety and demanded an end to deportations, as Breitbart Texas reported.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at@JxhnBinder.

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Open Borders Group: 600000 Illegal Aliens Could Receive Amnesty - Breitbart News

Up to 600,000 illegal immigrants living in several southern states may have some basis for remaining in the U.S. despite their current lack of legal status, according to a new study from the University of California San Diego (UCSD).

A statistical review of immigrant screenings performed by Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), an immigrant legal aid nonprofit, found that about 15 percent of the 4 million illegal immigrants in seven southern U.S. states had grounds to apply for legal residence. Their potential claims are based on fears of persecution in their native countries, family ties and other factors.

UCSD political scientistTom Wong, who conducted the analysis for CLINIC, told Reuters that the results of his study should give the Trump administration pause as it looks to increase the tempo of deportations.

As we ramp up immigration enforcement in the United States, we should take this figure and remind ourselves that we shouldnt deport first and then ask questions, Wong said.

CLINIC and its affiliates interviewed more than 2,700 immigrants in seven southern states, including Florida, Georgia, Virginia and Texas, reports Reuters.The largest share of those screened who could possibly attain legal status were those who had a legitimate fear of persecution in their home country, which would form the basis for an asylum claim. Other categories of illegal immigrants included those who were victims of serious crimes or who cooperated with law enforcement, and immigrants with family ties to U.S. citizens.

A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement told Reuters that the agency considers any pending appeals before making a decision about whether to initiate deportation proceedings.

Before carrying out a removal, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducts a thorough review of each case to determine whether there are any reasons the removal order issued by the immigration court should not be executed at that time, Danielle Bennett said.

Unauthorized immigrants often turn to the asylum process to gain legal residence in the U.S. Normally, asylum applicants must prove they have a credible fear of persecution by their home country governments on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, political beliefs or membership in a particular social group.

Thousands of migrants from Central America, fleeing rampant gang violence, have used high crime as an additional basis for asylum claims. Many of the claims are difficult to verify independently, but immigration judges, carrying a heavy caseload and dependent on overworked asylum officers, often have to take asylum applicants at their word that they have credible fear of persecution.

This leaves the asylum process susceptible to fraud, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a think tank that advocates lower levels of immigration.

The evidentiary burdens for aliens seeking asylum and withholding of removal are lower than for aliens seeking other immigration benefits, wrote CIS resident fellow Andrew Arthur. In fact, the testimony of [an] applicant [for asylum and withholding of removal] may be sufficient to sustain the applicants burden without corroboration.

The number of asylum applications received by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has risen dramatically in recent years, from 56,912 in 2014 to 115,888 in 2016.

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Report: 600K Illegal Immigrants In US South Have Potential Path To Legal Status - The Daily Caller

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's fugitive operations officers arrested 188 people from 11 different countries in California during a five-day operation.

The people were arrested in the Los Angeles area, and the operation focused on at-large criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants, and immigration fugitives, ICE said Thursday.

Most of those targeted had prior convictions for drug offenses or drunk driving. Fifteen had been convicted of sex crimes, and another 27 for domestic violence, according to ICE.

"Operations like these are emblematic of the vital work ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers do every day seeking to locate, arrest, and ultimately deport at-large convicted criminals and other immigration fugitives who pose a threat to public safety," David Marin, field officer director for ERO in Los Angeles, said in a statement.

"By taking these individuals off the streets and removing them from the country, we're making our communities safer for everyone," he said.

Among those arrested as part of the operation were a 29-year-old Salvadoran convicted of rape in California. The man had been deported after serving nine years in prison but returned to the U.S.

A 51-year-old from Mexico who had been previously deported was also arrested by ICE. The man spent three years in the California Department of Corrections for trafficking cocaine.

ICE also arrested a 26-year-old from El Salvador, who was registered as a sex offender after having sex with a minor. The man was convicted in 2014.

President Trump made illegal immigration a priority of his agenda, and since he signed executive orders involving immigration enforcement, ICE has arrested more than 41,000 people a 40 percent increase over the same time last year.

Nearly 75 percent of those arrested during this period this year are convicted criminals.

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ICE arrests nearly 200 illegal immigrants in California - Washington Examiner

May 25, 2017 7:23 PM By Kristen Johanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) Immigration officials conducted a 10-day roundup operation this month, netting over 150 people in the tri-state area.

Immigration Custom Enforcement agents say the target was any illegal alien who is a threat to public safety, like registered sex offenders, gang members, convicted criminals, and those who have ignored deportation and immigration laws.

141 people in Pennsylvania were taken into Federal custody, 16 of which were arrested in Philadelphia.

Philly is a sanctuary city, meaning that it limits cooperation with federal immigration agencies, but the police department did work with agents in handing over criminals in their custody.

Authorities say detainees facing charges will go through the court system, and the rest will be processed for removal.

ICE officials say the operation was conducted in compliance with Federal law.

Kristen Johanson is a reporter for KYW Newsradio. She joined the KYW Newsradio news team after spending four years on the assignment desk at our sister television station, CBS-3, as planning editor. She also worked as a field producer for several...

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Federal Agents Net Dozens Of Illegal Immigrants In 10-Day Operation - CBS Philly