One thing about Mo, a limited series that debuted on Netflix last month, is that it’s fast. Think diction-of-“Mattress Mack” fast. Fast in doling out gags that at minimum will redden your face and dramatic beats that address the tragicomic reality of people who call the United States their second home.
Minutes into the pilot, the lead character, Mo, a semi-autobiographical role played by Houston comedian Mohammed Amer, is placed on a riches-to-rags journey where he goes from a senior staffer at a cellular shop to a jobless Palestinian immigrant. Having no work permit is the reason cited. But what can he do when the only way to get it is to have his asylum case heard, though it’s been stalled in immigration courts for 22 years? Both heartaches and laughs ensue.
Meanwhile, for me, a realization strikes: I know this story. So many in Texas have lived or are living in this uncertain state of undetermined status. I, too, have known what job insecurity looks like. At one time, a now-defunct media station on Houston’s Bellaire Boulevard considered me essential for pitching and hosting a show—one about movies. But then I had to leave because of my short-term work papers. Since no one else could pick up the slack, the show was ultimately written off. It remains stunning to think all it took to upend my life was three letters. For me it was issues with OPT (the Optional Practical Training program, open to students before or after graduation); for Mo it was ICE (the threat of a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement).
