Documenting death by policy: Public grievability, migrant lives, and commonplace denials

Documentary mediums have been called upon to refute denials of mass suffering throughout the twentieth century. This essay argues that refutation is a documentary impulse as defınitive as the mission to amplify marginalized voices. Moreover, patterns in refuting denials of harm and moral responsibility indicate shifting conditions of public grievability. Comparing over a dozen documentaries about Prevention through Deterrence-a border control strategy nationalized under the Clinton administration-the analysis shows that migrant fatality maps and forensic lab footage not only document death but also refute commonplace denials of migrant human rights.