Judy Reyes is a woman Torn…
The 53-year-old Dominican American actress and former Scrubs star will lead the cast of Torn From Her Arms, Lifetime’s family border separation film.
Hailing from Ozy Media and Motion Picture Corporation of America, the movie will also star Gloria Reuben.
Fátima Molina and Camila Nuñez also star in the timely film, which, amidst the ongoing crisis at the U.S. border, depicts the harrowing true story of a mother and daughter who must find their way back to each other after being separated.
It’s slated to premiere this fall.
Reyes will play Thelma Garcia, a Texas Immigration lawyer who works tirelessly to reunite the pair, while Reuben plays Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist ProPublica reporter, Ginger Thompson, who broke the story.
Originally covered by Ozy’s reporting arm, Torn From Her Arms marks Ozy’s first foray into scripted programming and an expansion of its television catalog.
Based on a true story, Torn From Her Arms follows Cindy Madrid (Molina) and her six-year-old daughter, Ximena (Nuñez), who fled violence in El Salvador for safety in the U.S., only to be separated at the border as a part of the Administration’s Zero Tolerance Policy. Detained in detention centers in different states, Cindy and Ximena endured inhumane living conditions and inadequate medical care, but that was nothing compared to the emotional toll of being apart. Their story would gain national attention when a whistleblower leaked a gut-wrenching audiotape of six-year-old Ximena crying for her mother. The onslaught of media attention incited by Ginger’s story alerted the nation to the cruelties being committed against undocumented immigrant families at the border.
Alan Jonsson Gavica directs from a script written by Tawnya Bhattacharya and Ali Laventhol.
Reyes, who plays “Quiet Ann” on Claws, also appeared on Devious Maids.