this is "nightline." >> tonight, border vigilantes. >> if you want to call me anything, call me neighborhood watch. >> armed civilians on the hunt for drug dealers and illegal crossings with no legal authority. >> there is no law here. that's the point. >> they say they're patriots. >> they are helping the border patrol. >> but others say they're a problem. is this a recipe for disaster? plus, their different perspective on the border. hugs, not walls. undocumented immigrants separated. but on one special day they're finally united. granted a few precious minutes of amnesty to make up for years of lost time. we're with a mother and daughter about this share their first hug in a decade.

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good evening. thank you for joining us. some of the most committed people patrolling our borders don't work for the border patrol. armed vigilantes, unpaid and unsanctioned, scouting for drug dealers and illegal crossings in arizona. some say they're dangerous. but they insist they're filling a void left by law enforcement agencies that they say can't or won't do the job. here's abc's neal karlinsky. >> looking for tracks that's not ours, basically tennis shoes. these guys wear tennis shoes so they can run faster. right there. that's what i'm looking for. >> reporter: we're tracking footprints deep in the heart of some of the roughest and most remote desert in arizona. part of a high-stakes and heavily armed game of cat and mouse. >> what's this mission right now? >> we believe there's a cartel scout watching our location. what we're doing is going to try to do a pinch on them. >> reporter: this paramilitary

force led by tim naylor foley says it's facing off against drug cartels from mexico, a stone's throw from here. they are heavily armed, well organized, and deeply committed. this is their target. captured on trail cameras they say they've planted. they say these are lines of so-called drug mules and the other undocumented immigrants marching their way across the border into arizona and beyond. they see it as the living embodiment of what president trump has warned about, the very reason he cites for that controversial executive order to build a wall. but here on the ground, there's just one problem with this border patrol. they aren't the border patrol. they're an unauthorized armed force called the azbr, arizona border recon, which respent time with after president trump's election. critics say they're dangerous. >> they're not law enforcement. don't have the authority to do immigration work.

>> do you want this group gone? >> i would like that group not to be here. >> reporter: tony estrada is the long-time sheriff in nearby nogales, arizona, one of the nation's best-known and at times dangerous border crossings. >> we're here in the u.s., my hand is in mexico. this is mexico. >> reporter: he showed us the steel fence already here in hopes of keeping the border secure. and he echoeses the border control which in a statement to abc news in december said it does not endorse or support private groups or organizations taking border security matters into their own hands, as it could have adverse personal and public safety consequences. >> nobody's vetted them, nobody's said, who are you? are you a racist? what exactly is your purpose for being down here? >> reporter: the southern poverty law center goes so far as to call them an extremist group. >> there is no law here. that's the point. who's going to uphold the law when they call us vigilantes, fine. you look at the word vigilante.

the first half is vigil. we're filling a vigil here. second half is ante. ante up, do your part. >> reporter: foley, a 57-year-old former construction worker, is the group's founder. he says his group is more effective than border patrol in areas like this where the border doesn't have much of a barrier, something he doesn't believe would make much difference anyway. >> you can see where they open up the barbed wire. i could squeeze through there right now. >> reporter: his men are a ragtag team of volunteers. we hiked a steep contaactus-rid hill to find a small team of scouts he'd planted, including andy, here on vacation from his e.m.s. job with the new york fire department. >> you come out here on vacation? >> pretty much. >> you're lying around like you're special forces, a gun next to you here? >> i wouldn't come out here without it, it's dangerous here. >> we have an agency to deal with this. why are you here? >> i believe that they are happy

that we assist them in any way that we can assist them. i think that their hands are tied. and they're not able to do what they really want to do. >> reporter: while we were with foley and his group, a third-generation rancher drove up. no one was sure if he'd have a problem with the azbr running missions on his land. >> this is the wild, wild west. and essentially, i'm not the law, i'm just a victim out here. an abused victim having people from all over the world coming through my ranch. >> reporter: jim chillton owns and the ranches 50,000 acres of land here. you like these guys? >> i like these guys. they're doing what citizens ought to do. we're here in a foreign occupied area with the cartel scouts on our mountains. >> you really feel like you're in a foreign occupied yes? >> yes, i'm in a foreign occupied area. >> fascinating. this is obviously a shoe print. >> that's in the last day or so.

>> reporter: the roads the smugglers take are nearly all natural trailstrails carved thr the desert by rain. water bottles. >> they use black ones because they don't reflect like clear ones. >> reporter: we found something called carpet shoes. you can see them on the men in these hidden camera videos foley says he recorded, covering their feet. >> velcro and everything. take it, stick it over your shoe there, no footprints. you walk, invisible i guess is what they hope. >> reporter: there is another group patrolling these trails too. they're not smugglers or law enforcement. >> we are out there to find them, to help them. these people wouldn't make it. you can see we have water, we have closing. >> reporter: maria ochoa is part of one of several humanitarian groups that leaves food and water in the desert. >> it's all nonperishable food that can be left out on the trails or handed out to people. >> crackers and the cheese, granola bars, applesauce.

what are these? >> these are stones that represent remains or bodies that have been found in the desert. >> reporter: she says the elderly and children are routinely left for dead by human smugglers when the journey becomes too hard to keep up. >> all these red dots are deaths? >> deaths. >> of migrants? >> deaths of migrants in the desert. >> reporter: she worries foley and his group have lots of guns and little accountability while dealing with a group of people who are often already being taken advantage of. >> do you think they're dangerous? >> we have wondered about that. there has been instances where people have gotten hurt out there. not from our groups, not from these groups. we have seen deaths out there that we're not sure who did it. >> reporter: a few years ago, foley says he was accused of planting ieds on these trails, allegedly targeting undocumented immigrants with makeshift explosives. he says he didn't do a thing and calls it a setup. >> they actually did a full-on

fbi raid on my place and everything else. and then they -- once they figured out, oops, sorry. >> you weren't -- they didn't arrest you? >> wasn't charged, wasn't arrested, nothing. >> reporter: foley says he background checks his own volunteers, doesn't allow drinking, and routinely kicks out prospective members if they seem overeager and aggressive. he shared this video with us which foley says shows him and his men helping what they call a quitter, an undocumented immigrant separated from his group in need of water and help, which they say they gave him before turning him over to authorities. >> you know you have critics. what do you say to people who look at you and your organization and say, listen, these guys, they're a militia, they're a bunch of crackpots with guns, they have no business being out there, we have official law enforcement to do this. >> when they call us militia, we're not a militia, we're nongovernmental organization. i live here. so if you want to call me

anything, call me neighborhood watch. >> reporter: they call themselves patriots and regardless of what president trump says will happen, until the border is secure, they say they're not going anywhere. >> if this was replaced by a big sparkling new wall, do you think that would make a difference? >> it will slow it down. but it won't stop it. you need to have somebody watching the wall. >> reporter: i'm neal karlinsky for "nightline" along the u.s./mexico border in arizona. next, imagine a chance to hug a loved one you haven't seen in years. emotional family reuns at the u.s./mexico border. and later -- beyonce's next two new releases are when are in formation, but they're not songs. ah...still sick, huh? i'll take it from here. i'm good. i just took new mucinex clear and cool. ah! what's this sudden cooling thing happening?

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you can feel good about general mills big g cereals. just days ago, thousands of people gathered on the east side of the rio grande along our southern border. undocumented immigrants on the american side. across from them, their families living in mexico. for just a fleeting moment the chance of a lifetime to come together, some for the first time in years, in our series "face to face." locked in an embrace years in the waiting. minutes in the passing. family members given the chance to reunite for a cherished moment, standing at points ankle-deep in river water on the rio grande, the border between the u.s. and mexico.

for people like deborah, all they've had are memories and photographs of loved ones. >> this is my sister when we were in middle school. >> reporter: deborah's sister lives just a few miles away but she hasn't seen her in a decade. she'll have her chance tomorrow. >> i don't know to be happy, sad, excited, mad. everything that's going on, that we can't do anything about it. >> reporter: ten years ago deborah's family came to the u.s. from juarez, mexico, illegally. so we're not using anyone's real names. her older sister gloria was caught by border police and deported. but her daughter, around 5 at the time, made it to the u.s. >> it's my niece. she's my sister's daughter. >> reporter: this is her, christina, now nearly 15 years old. she hasn't been able to hug, even see her mother in ten years. that all changes tomorrow at an event called "hugs, not walls." strengthening america's southern border has been a steady battle cry for president donald trump.

>> we will 100% build the wall. >> reporter: just last week, doubling down on his pledge to build the wall , signing an executive order. many worry president trump may remove some of the immigration protections president obama put in place for so-called dreamers, the name for many undocumented immigrants who came to the country as children, people like deborah. >> they can deport us any time they want because they have all of our information on us. and we can't do anything about it. >> a lot of people say, get in line, get in line to come in unlawfully. but there actually is no line. you have to wait sometimes 25 years even if you have a family member petitioning for you. so it's very difficult to come in. >> reporter: el paso, texas and juarez, mexico, are already separated by a barbed wire fence. >> really excited to see my sister again after ten years. >> reporter: today deborah, her family, and thousands of others in similar situations have a precious chance, a chance to see and touch their relatives in

mexico. with nearly 6,000 in attendance at today's event, they're clearly not alone. >> you haven't seen your mom in how long? >> decades. >> what do you think that moment will feel like? >> excited. i'm finally going to see her. >> reporter: this reunion of sorts, sanctioned and protected by the u.s. customs and border patrol, despite the fact that many of those living in the u.s. do not have proper documentation. today it's about compassion. >> i would like to say that we have an enormous gratitude and thank you to the border patrol. ♪ >> reporter: for those on the american side, blue t-shirts. those on the mexican side, white. the colors blending into a human sea of hugs and heartache. families here have come from as far as chicago, colorado. by bus, by car, any means

possible. the journey worth it for just four minutes. that's 240 precious seconds of finally being able to touch their closest relatives face to face. this family hasn't seen each other in 27 years. >> we wish we could have more time, give more time to the families. but there are a lot of families waiting to participate and reunite for a few minutes. we're not breaking any law. nobody's crossing to either side. people are staying right at the middle of the river. >> reporter: this woman seeing her father's graying hair for the first time. this young man celebrating his birthday with his family for the first time in years. then there's this young man. his family drove 11 hours to get here. >> i'm about to reunite with my grandparents and the one of my aunts i haven't seen in 14, 15 years. going to be an awesome moment. it's the worst feeling ever, a hard moment, but really excited. i just want to go out there and

hug them. it's a fascinating experience. the thing that really matters is to be able to know they're still here for us. that no matter what the distance is, they still are with us. >> reporter: back behind the fence, deborah, her mother, brother, and niece have been waiting for hours. >> what number are you? >> 158. >> reporter: for them it seems like an eternity knowing the rest of their family is just beyond this fence. >> do you see them? >> yes. it's my aunt, my sister, my uncle, my three aunts and my cousin. i just can't wait till i get down. so i can see them, hug them. tell them how much they mean to me. >> reporter: then four tear-stained minutes.

their family complete. >> that was amazing. i just hugged all my family. it was like, already it's over? we didn't even have a chance to introduce your new family, my sister-in-law, my husband. >> reporter: though deborah is married to an american swit about citizen and is trying to get her green card, she and the rest of her family are worried what president trump's policies may mean for their futures. >> just i know that my sister missed me a lot. we couldn't talk because we were crying. i mean, like a picture can say a lot of things. a hug can too. >> reporter: this one worth a thousand words. ♪ they don't love you like i love you ♪ >> next, hold up. how many babies are in there? a surprise instagram post from beyonce that's rocking her queendom, racking up the most likes of all-time. ♪ what a wicked way to treat the girl that loves you ♪ per roll

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exciting arrival of destiny's children. here's abc's nick watt. >> reporter: this is how beyonce told the world she's pregnant. with twins. on instagram. >> she was able to hide her pregnancy and reveal it in the most beyonce way we know. >> reporter: the internet so politically divided right now, united in a beehive if but for a moment. >> today beyonce broke the internet. >> reporter: the caption reads, we have been blessed two times over, we are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for your well wishers, the carters. flowers for fertility. ivy a traditional symbol of fidelity. bey and jay z back on track after those hints on "lemonade"? >> if we're going to heal let it be glorious. >> reporter: blue ivy, their firstborn. mismatched underwear? pinkish and baby blue? a girl and a invoice?

the avocado veil -- i don't know. nine nominations for "lemonade." ♪ let's be in formation >> reporter: headlining coachella in april. due date maybe mid-august? i'm nick watt speculating wildly for "nightline" in los angeles. >> it was the late princess diana who put it simply -- family is the most important thing. feng nor watching abc news. as always wore loon line on the abcnews.com and our "ni ♪ strummed guitar you can't experience the canadian rockies through a screen. you have to be here, with us.

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