Born in East L.A.

1987
R
1h 25m

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

6.7K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer1:32

2 Videos

87 Photos

Comedy

When an L.A. born American citizen is mistaken for a Mexican illegal alien and deported to Mexico, he has to do everything he can to get across the border.When an L.A. born American citizen is mistaken for a Mexican illegal alien and deported to Mexico, he has to do everything he can to get across the border.When an L.A. born American citizen is mistaken for a Mexican illegal alien and deported to Mexico, he has to do everything he can to get across the border.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.0/10

6.7K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 4 wins

Videos2

Photos87

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Contrary to popular belief, the picture of Jesus Christ in Rudy's house is not Tommy Chong. Chong turned down an offer to cameo in the film.

Goofs
When Rudy is working as a tattoo artist, four "bullet hole" tattoos suddenly appear on his client's forehead near the end of the scene.

Quotes
Rudy: If you want to be cool, first you pull your headband into the cool position. then you just lean back, put this hand in your pocket and then you wave this hand behind you like you just cut one and your trying to shoo away the stinch.

Alternate versions
The television broadcast version adds at least 15 to 20 minutes of footage. In this footage, Rudy does make it across the border only to be captured by kidnappers with his friends. He is held for ransom in the house across the street from his home and is rescued by the border patrol. When he hears that Dolores will have to be sent back across the border, he marries her and makes her a citizen. That's why the priest is behind them in the last shot of the TV versions.

Connections
Featured in Demented Top 20 Video Countdown (1988)

Soundtracks
Born in East L.A.
Words by Cheech Marin
Music by Bruce Springsteen
Published by Bruce Springsteen (ASCAP)
Performed by Cheech & Chong
Cheech & Chong appear courtesy of MCA Records

User reviews39

Review

Featured review

8/10

Fiction becomes truth

When this movie was made, it was a comedy. It couldn't really happen, right? Well, as of 2008, 21 years later, it's happened to five US citizens, as far as anyone knows, since 2007 alone. There's no way of knowing how many people have actually been detained and/or deported because the government refused to believe their documentation -- Or they lacked it; Citizens don't have green cards, after all, so an immigration officer who is determined to deport anyone without one will deport a lot of citizens.

I just read an Associated Press article about a man by the name of Jose Ledesma who was jailed for two months, because the feds refused to accept his 100% real birth certificate as legitimate. The government has become so absurd, that a parody of 1987 has become the reality of 2008.