Stages brings immigration-focused play 'The Heart Sellers' to Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Immigration is a top story right now as President Donald Trump works to restrict who and how many people are allowed to cross the southern border.

At the same time, a Houston theater is bringing a play to the stage that takes inspiration from a time period when a new generation of non-European immigrants was welcomed into the country.

Director Miranda Cornell joined Eyewitness News with a preview of "The Heart Sellers" at Stages.

The story focuses on two young female immigrants of Asian descent in the 1970s over the Thanksgiving holiday.

RELATED: Advocates warn immigration policy reversals will harm Texas children, families

President Donald Trump's policies have led immigrant communities across Texas and the nation to try to figure out their futures.

Cornell mentioned the wordplay in the title. It's based on the Hart-Celler Act.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed it into law at a ceremony in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York. The law changed immigration policy by abolishing national origins quotas.

The comedic drama is coming to the stage at a time when American immigration policy is back at the forefront.

Cornell said she wanted to be part of a project that puts a human lens on a difficult topic with both complexity and joy.

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