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Critical Incident: Death at the Border

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CRITICAL INCIDENT revisits the 2010 death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who died while in custody at the border. When eye-witness video emerges, it sparks a far-reaching investigation from a border checkpoint to Washington D.C. CRITICAL INCIDENT chronicles journalists', lawyers', and family members' efforts to explore the Border Patrol's involvement in the incident, ultimately pointing to cover-ups, and uncovering the existence of a little-known unit inside the agency that had been involved in other border related incidents. In 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection disbanded the Critical Incident Teams, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held a hearing on the Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas case, ultimately calling for the reopening of the case and recognizing that Hernandez-Rojas' human rights had been violated during his arrest.

Critics Reviews

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Chris Vognar Boston Globe 2h
“Critical Incident” is an important film, but watching it never feels like eating your vegetables. Director Rick Rowley... wrings thrills from all of that digging and the process of speaking truth to power. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Cast & Crew

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Rick Rowley

Director

Karim Hajj

Producer

A.C. Thompson

Executive Producer

Nathan Ross

Executive Producer

Jean-Marc Vallée

Executive Producer

Michael Antinoro

Executive Producer
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Critical Incident: Death at the Border

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Movie Info

Synopsis CRITICAL INCIDENT revisits the 2010 death of Anastasio Hernández-Rojas, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who died while in custody at the border. When eye-witness video emerges, it sparks a far-reaching investigation from a border checkpoint to Washington D.C. CRITICAL INCIDENT chronicles journalists', lawyers', and family members' efforts to explore the Border Patrol's involvement in the incident, ultimately pointing to cover-ups, and uncovering the existence of a little-known unit inside the agency that had been involved in other border related incidents. In 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection disbanded the Critical Incident Teams, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held a hearing on the Anastasio Hernandez-Rojas case, ultimately calling for the reopening of the case and recognizing that Hernandez-Rojas' human rights had been violated during his arrest.
Director
Rick Rowley
Producer
Karim Hajj
Distributor
HBO
Production Co
HBO Documentary Films, Crazyrose, Film 45, Midnight Films
Genre
Crime, Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Dec 29, 2025