Range of shows exploring topic of immigration

A number of TV shows centering on immigration began cropping up as Donald Trump rose to the presidency.

Since Trump took office, his administration has ramped up deportations and cracked down on illegal immigration in communities nationwide.

Popular shows such as “Superstore,” “Jane the Virgin” and “Fresh Off the Boat” recently tackled stories about undocumented immigrants. In addition, several networks have announced upcoming new shows focusing on the subject.

CBS announced “In the Country We Love,” a drama about a corporate lawyer who takes on cases for undocumented immigrants. The CW is developing “Casa,” about six Latino siblings whose parents are deported.

The trend also extends to three reboots of favorite TV programs that, during their original runs, never discussed immigration:

‘Roswell’

The popular CW show starring Katherine Heigl and Colin Hanks mixed teen high-school drama with a story about space aliens living secretly in Roswell, New Mexico.

During its run from 1999 to 2002, critics praised the series, citing its thoughtful mixture of genres: romance, coming of age, science fiction and mystery.

Creator Jason Katims has said that the “theme of alienation” attracted him to the show.

Despite its setting in a border state, “Roswell” didn’t address immigration; the topic will be a part of the CW reboot, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The show will follow the daughter of undocumented immigrants who returns to her hometown, Roswell, where she becomes reacquainted with a high-school crush. He’s now a police officer and a space alien — who is running from the government.

‘Party of Five’

The Fox drama starring Neve Campbell and Matthew Fox followed five siblings whose parents were killed by a drunken driver.

The show, which ran for six seasons (1994-2000), focused on topics as wideranging as alcoholism and abortion. It sought to usurp stereotypes and to turn “standard expectations about a family of orphans on its head,” co-creator Amy Lippman told the Los Angeles Times in 2000.

Now, she and cocreator Chris Keyser are readying a reboot centering on a firstgeneration Latino family that immigrates to the United States.

The fate of the parents, the Hollywood Reporter said, is being “kept under wraps.”

‘One Day At a Time’

The Norman Lear sitcom starring Mackenzie Phillips, Valerie Bertinelli and Bonnie Franklin followed a divorced mom struggling to raise two teen daughters — a bold theme when it premiered in 1975, a time when single motherhood wasn’t widely discussed.

Lear updated the series for the reboot — which landed on Netflix in January — to reflect modern America.

It swapped its white family for the CubanAmerican Alvarezes. The main character is still a single mother, who lives with her two children, but she is joined by her mother, who emigrated from Cuba.

One of the main plotlines focuses on an undocumented immigrant befriended by one of the children.