this is "nightline." tonight, finding my child. the human toll of the zero tolerance policy that separated families. the journey of two fathers and their children detained crossing into the u.s. the parents deported. the children left behind. something the administration denied. >> there is no parent who has been deported, to my knowledge, without multiple opportunities to take their children with them. >> but this father says that's simply not true and is heading back to find his son. plus, inside the facility. rare access as our cameras show the reality inside an immigration detention center. and tears of joy. what it took to get to this moment. a father and son reunion.

but now, the uncertain future they face. this special edition of "nightline," "finding my child", will be right back.

♪ [ crying ] ♪ you protect them at home. we help protect them online. this is beyond wifi. this is xfi. simple. easy. awesome. xfinity. the future of awesome. this special edition of "nightline," "finding my child," continues. here now, juju chang.

>> good evening. thanks for joining us. the controversial zero tolerance immigration policy separated thousands of families seeking asylum at the u.s./mexico border. while it was officially discontinued in june, the long-term damage to children and families is still unknown. tonight we bring you the personal stories of two fathers on a journey, risking their freedom to be their forced separation. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: for nine months, their phone has been the only bridge between this family and their son. snc when 6-year-old ariel and his

father jesus crossed the border, they were detained, then he says, forcibly separated. >> translator: no, i'm not giving him away. you'll have to kill me first. they turned me around and put my back against a wall. they put him in a room. and when i turned around, my son was no longer there. >> reporter: this family one of thousands caught in the cross hairs of the trump administration's zero tolerance policy, an issue that continues to divide the nas. >> if they feel there will be accept raise, they will not come. >> you let kids be separated without tracking them. do you know how outrageous that is! >> reporter: the policy on hold for now, the full impact unknown, countless families still broken. now jesus is on a journey to try to get his son back, joined by 28 other parents who were not only separated but then

deported, their children left behind. >> these parents have been incredibly traumatized by the separation from their children. >> reporter: they are risking their freedom again, hoping to make their families whole and gain refuge in the u.s. with the help of immigration attorneys like erica pinetto. >> it's designed to break the will of people who want to seek safety in the united states. >> translator: on may 16, 2018, i made the decision to travel to the united states with my son. >> reporter: the father and son left honduras, they say, after threats were made on their lives. a danger made more real when the same gang members killed jesus's brother-in-law. but by the time they reached the border, the united states had announced a new crackdown on migrants, some say at the time it was designed to be a

deterrent. >> if you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you. and that child may be separated from you as required by law. >> reporter: jesus, who asked us only to use his first name for his safety said nothing else mattered once ariel was taken. >> translator: when i was in detention i shook the bars and said tell me please, what is going on with my son, where do you have him? i know my son is not okay because he misses me, i said to them. >> reporter: the distraught father says he was then given a document in english to sign that he thought was his first step toward asylum, but instead, it was his deportation order. >> i was told i would be returning to my home country and my son would stay here. at that moment i cried and cried and cried. >> reporter: though he felt tricked, jesus said he was willing to leave the country, but not without his child. >> translator: i told them it was fine. they didn't want to give me asylum, but to give me back my

son since i was leaving, and they said, well, sir, no one steals children here. your son is doing well, and we'll give him back to you at the airport. >> reporter: but when he arrived at the airport, no sign of his little boy. >> they kept lying to him, telling him they'd be reunified in a couple days or his son would be on the plane when they went back to honduras. he's not the only one who had to be forcibly put on the plane and separated from their child. >> reporter: meanwhile, people growing alarmed. >> what purpose have you been given for separating parents from their children. >> so my decision has been that anyone who breaks the law will be prosecuted. >> reporter: then this recording obtained by pro publica from inside a detentionenter, outrage was swift.

>> child internment camps, that's what i said! >> reporter: days later the policy coming to an end. but the government had not tracked which parents and children belonged together, leaving the task of reuniting the families largely to ngos like "on the other side." >> when we do the government's job by finding the parents, bringing them back, identifying where the children are and putting everything in place for them to be reunified, they still put all these roadblocks in our way. >> reporter: elmer received death threats for his work as a policeman investigating a murder back home in honduras, but it was after his 15-year-old daughter marisol started receiving threats, too, that they decided they needed to make the treacherous journey north. >> translator: when we arrived at immigration, they sent us in so-called i.c.e. boxes. and that is, i'm not going to explain. i cannot find the ways to

express what we went through in there. she was shivering and telling me, daddy, i can't take it anymore, and she spent all night shivering with a fever and they took her away and told me, look, we are going to take your daughter so she can get changed, and i never saw her again. >> translator: and i with my tears waited to see when he would come. and that's how the days passed. he didn't show up. >> reporter: marisol, who asked us not to show her face, was held in a detention center for migrant youth in florida, for six months. >> translator: they assign you a number. i mean, they don't call you by your name there. they almost never call you by your name. they call you by your number. because why do you think they call it the kennel? i mean, because they're cages like a kennel, huge cages, and young girls who were 5 years

owed, old, 6 years old, 9 years old were trying and the policeman said shut up you young girls, i have a headache i don't want to hear you. >> reporter: eventually, relatives in wisconsin were able to take her in. >> translator: everything happens, i said to her someday we will be together i said to her. >> whattive ezi i've seen in a cases, the kids hold a lot of resentment toward their parents. emotionally, they can't process it. >> reporter: 6-year-old ariel was held in detention for six months in a shelter before relatives were able to take him. >> what was he like when he got here? >> he was sad, he didn't really remember stuff. >> reporter: still raw and still so young, his american cousin elvis helps tell his story. >> as he's spending more time here he's being more active and doing better, but i'm very happy

that he's communicate being better since he knows his parents are coming very soon, hopefully. >> reporter: nearly a year after their unwilling farewells, jesus, elmer and dozens of other parents are once again steps from the u.s. border. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> my biggest worry is that some of the families that were traveling together will be separated. it's really i.c.e.'s decision. >> reporter: erica and a small army of volunteers ready the families for the crossing. armed with petitions to get their children back. >> what's the best-case scenario? >> that they let them through, that they let them out the other side. we're just going to walk over, and i'm to go up to the front and tell them either we're there and take it from there.

>> reporter: together the families approach the calexico port of entry, their fate uncertain. >> i try to stay kind of positive for the parents, but i had to tell them the truth. they told me i'm scared, and i'm like, i'm scared, too. this is stressful, i don't know what's going to happen. and i kept telling the parents, you have to prepare for the worst. >> reporter: immediately, they run into the first roadblock. >> they're saying that they don't have a pass in the process. he's 52. we know they have the ability to process these families and release them immediately at the port of entry, they just, they don't want to. >> reporter: ten hours of negotiations later. success. the doors open. [ speaking in foreign language ]

>> reporter: one step closer to their children, but stepping foot into a world with no guarantees. >> it's random, you know. there'll be two families with the same facts. one can get paroled out. another can get separated. it's really the luck of the draw. >> reporter: when we come back, a rare look inside an immigration detention center, and a boy still waiting for his father. will these families be reunited? this is amazing. with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, are you okay? even when i was there, i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira can help get, and keep uc under control when other medications haven't worked well enough. and it helps people achieve control that lasts.

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"nightline" continues. here again, juju >> translator: i try to lead as calm a life as i can. because here you get really depressed. >> reporter: two weeks after the families entered the u.s. to find their children, 17 remain in detention. including elmer. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> translator: the officers are nice. the officers, yes. they treat you well here. but, as i told you, you're locked inside. you're not free. you're depressed. >> reporter: we were granted rare access inside this i.c.e. facility, owned and operated by a private prison company. >> it took us like a week or two to arrange for some of the

parents to have calls with their kids in detention, and then detention itself was very triggering. they couldn't help but have really intrusive thoughts of their last time in detention. >> reporter: elmer, a step closer but still uncertain whether he'll be reunited with his daughter marisol since he w hasn't seen her since he was deported ten months ago. >> translator: i would prefer for her to be there and not see her ever again in person instead of sending her back to my country, because she has no future there. and the danger she was in, that was the reason i took her with me. i have my trust in god, but i hope for the best. and the best would be to reunite with my daughter. i know that god will touch the stiffest hearts and give us the chance to enter. >> reporter: but there are so many stories like elmer's. in the last year, more than a 600% increase in families fleeing central america,

apprehensions of migrants expected to surpass half a million, putting an unprecedented strain on the entire system. unlike elmer, jesus was quickly released from government custody. the long-held dream of holding his son again now just one flight away, to the nation's capital, where then dhs secretary kirstjen nielsen was defyi denying stories like his. >> there is no parent who has been deported, to my knowledge, without muts many opportunitilt to take their children with them. >> reporter: but for people like jesus, they say that's simply not true. >> translator: they all deceived me. they with supposed to give me my son back at the airport and it was all a lie. >> reporter: multiple agencies

declined our request for interviews, citing active litigation. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: after months with only a phone to bridge the thousands of miles and countless family memories lost, the moment finally arrives. a family reunited.

and a shared realization that their journey to gain asylum has only just begun. begun. and in calexico, volunteer at the ready. >> i'm letting someone know a bus pulled up. >> reporter: as they are finally released after a month in custody. the prayers beginning to be answered, including those of

elmer. elmer's daughter again now finally within reach, but ahead of them lies a difficult path to asylum, with no guarantees that the doors will open. stay with us. oh! oh! oh! ♪ ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. oh! under seven? and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes,

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