Statistics compiled by the Pew Hispanic Center report that an estimated 11.7 million illegal immigrants resided in the United States in 2012, 58% of that population being from Mexico (Passel). With over half of this massive population being from just south of the border, it is no wonder why discussion surrounding immigration in the news is dominated by topics such as violence in border communities due to drug trafficking, the "takeover" of Spanish speakers in the U.S., the competition for jobs amongst American citizens and Mexican immigrants, and the financial burden placed on border states to support this illegal population. .
In his movie, "Sleep Dealers," director Alex Rivera takes his viewers decades into the future where none of these burdens related to immigration exist; the borders have been shut down and the only interaction that the United States maintains with immigrant workers is through robots controlled by Mexican workers in factories across the border in Ciudad Tijuana, Mexico. Rivera plays with the idea where commercial activity and foreign labor only occur through "transnational space" where "products are outsourced [and] beamed around the world to gain efficiency and profit (Rivera)," a process that Rivera says is taking place today. The efficiency achieved by the capitalist industries in the United States may far outweigh the efficiency of physically employing immigrant workers, but at what price does this efficiency come at for those Mexican workers whose lives become consumed by working and by the technology aiding in the process. .
As viewers follow the main character, Memo, through his journey from his home in rural Mexico to Tijuana "City of the Future" it will become apparent that the slow rural reality he once maintained at home will almost be lost as he becomes engulfed in the working life of the "Sleep Dealer" factories.