Gina Rodriguez is set to produce not one, but two new series for CW and CBS. The Jane The Virgin star is ready for the word ‘illegal’ to be a thing of the past.
The first series Illegal is being co-written and produced by Rafael Agustin, and will be based on his real life experiences. Agustin was prom king, class president, and an honor roll student. One thing he didn’t know at the time was he was undocumented.
He discovered the news in 1998 while applying to college.
“I was in shock,” the Ecuador-born writer-performer recalled during a recent phone interview with The Times. “I knew I was an immigrant — I remember a time when I didn’t speak English. But I didn’t know we were undocumented immigrants.”
The series is in development with CW. Agustin describes it as an edgy Latino version of “The Wonder Years.”
The CBS project titled Have Mercy follows a Latina doctor who is demoted to a nurse after she’s unable unable to practice after moving to Miami. She begins an illegal medical clinic out of her home.
Both series hail from Rodriguez’s production company I Can & I Will Productions.
They couldn’t have come at a better time. On September 5 Donald Trump announced he’ll be ending DACA which protects around 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation.
During an interview with The Chicago Tribune, Rodriguez had this to say about Trump’s decision
“For me personally I was just devastated. My heart breaks for these young kids that are just trying. America just seems real brutal these days. Everything that I’ve grown up with and thought America stood for has just been destroyed by this administration time and time again. I’m just so afraid for young kids who fear not having anywhere to go. I just wish I could change it all, but I can’t.”
No word on when either series will begin production, but check back for updates!
