♪ >> narrator: ithe summer of 2017, the trump administration quietly began a controversial program. >> there werhundreds and hundreds of little children who had been taken from their airents. while everyone'sting to see whether they're going to enact a policy, they were doing it anyway. >> narrator: one year later, it shocked the world. >> martin smith: howan you not condemn that? >> i've seen a lot of terrible things in my 34 years, but w have to address the border. >> narrator: under pressure, the president reversed course. >> we're going to keilies together... >> narrator: tonight on "frontline," correspondent main smith with an investigatiothat reaches from central america to washington, dc. the policy decisions through two presidencies.

>> there's no pleasing any side. i think on the right, yourt enforcemen never strong enough, and on the left, you're never being humanitarian enough. >> narrator: and the impact on children and families. >> there's a very high likelihood a lot of these parents are never going to seeki their again. >> narrator: tonight,ar "seped: children at the border." >>efrontline" is made possi by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, ted to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information is available at macfound.org. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the frontof lineocial change worldwide, at fordfoundation.org. additional support is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellenc journalism. the park foundation, dedicated to hghtening public awarenes of critical issues. the john and helen glessnerpp family trust, ting trustworthy journalism that

informs and inspires. and by the "frontline" journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler.an additional support from chris and lisa kaneb. ♪ (dogs barking) (clanging) ♪ o smith: the border spansr 1,900 miles. nearly 700 of them have a wallor fence. where there are gaps, aerostat blimps surveil from above.

(radio chatter) since 9/11, security is up. the number of border patrol agents has doubled to some 20,000. >> these two are probably theor guides larger group. minors come up north but then went south. >> smith: in mid-june, young woman and her son from el salvador took a raft across the rio grande into southern texas. >> that one looks pretty young... >> yeah, buthey've been trying all day to... ho>> smith: after several urs of wandering in the hot sun looking for help, they found some border patrol agents and asked forum asyl after 24 hours in a holding cellthey were released. (people talking in background) i met them at this s in mcallen, texas, maritza amaya and her nine-month-old son wilfredo. de donde viene? de el salvador. >> smith: de el salvador. they crossed the border at a retime when many families being separated. so tell us your story about why

you came at this time? (speaking spanish): >> smith: were you aware of the risks of being separated from your child when you came? >> no. >> smith: the day i met maritza isppened to be the same day president trumed his executive order halting more separations. families would be allowed to remain together while their asylum claims were considered.hi and so what is is it uncomfortable? >> smith: in the meantime, maria wears an ankle bracele that allows the government to track her movements.

are you scared now, being here? (translator): (maritza speaking): (baby crying in background) smith: this shelter was founded in 2014 by sister norma pimentel.ke i asher about the impact of onump's separation policy the h families she seen at her shelter. (conversing in spanish) >> they're concerned. they're worried. "sister, what's happening to the children?" they saw other parents' children taken away from them. and they would be praying,ch "please, not md. please, god, don't let them take my child." >> smith: the president says that the people that are coming in can be criminals, they can be very bad people. is that your experience? >> i believe that just becauseyo

re an immigrant doesn't automatically make you a criminal. immigrants must be tak care of as immigrants, families who are fleeing violence, who need protecti, and we need to understand the reason why they're here. >>rehe dilemma is that if yo weak, if you're really, really pathetically weak, the cntry's gonna be overrun with millions of people, and if you're strong, then you don't have any heart. that's a tough dilemma. we're keeping families together but we have to keep our borders strong. we will be overrun with crime be in our country.eo (aouncement on loudspeaker (speaking spanish) >> smith: later that night, maritza and wilfredo waited for a bus to take them on a two-day journey to be reunited wita brother living in virginia.

on the evening news, the signing of trump's executive order. >> it's been going on for 60 years. 60 years. nobody's taken care of it. nobody's had the political courage to take care of it, but we're going to take care of it. so we're keeping families together, at the same time, it continues to bzero tolerance for people that enter our country illelly. >> smith: while maritza and etlfredo may be denied asylum, they are still tr. more than 2,000 other falies were not. (man speaking spanish) a ow days later, i traveled el salvador, central america, to visit a father who had been separated from his six-year-old child after crossing into the u.s. illegally. i found him, arnovis guidos portillo, in a tiny village three hours outside the capital.

it had been one month since he'd seen his daughter meybelin. (phone dialing) he was calling a shelter in arizona where she was being held. (arnovis speaking spanish): (woman on other end of phone): >> oh, okay. >> smith: what would you like to say to her right now? s este casa. >> smith: arnovis gave me a tour of his one-room home.

>> smith: do you have pictures of her? (rooster crowing) (laughter) (man speaking spanh) >> smith: like maritza, arnovis and his daughter left fleeing violence. >> smith: arnovis says he gots death threter getting into an argument with the brother of

a local gang leader. (arnovis speaking): : >> smithe journey north can be torturous. those from the humblest origs have to navigate many miles on foot. >> you run the gauntlet of risk to come here. traveling for migrants is certainly not fe. and you can... subject to horrendous crimes on your journey anbe kidnapped and raped and, in certain cases, killed. >> smith: their first goal is thto reach mexico, and thee beast-- a freight train that has carried hundreds of thousands of migrants up to the u.s. border.

it's a challenge simplyon gettinoard. (train horn blares) sonia nazario has dden the train. >> the central americans are crossing mico illegally, so they can't get on at the train station. they have too this as the train is moving. (train clanging on tracks) and for a lot of the kids, i would see that the first rung ow the ladderld be at their waist or even higher. so children would lose legs and arms and be killed by the freight trains trying to get on and off them. (shouting) there were beautiful moments on the trn where, you know, everyone's singing to try to stay awake and we would be in a cloud of a million fireflies, these myical moments. and for a lot of children, it is also an adventure. that's what they view it as until the first horrible thing happens.

they had gangstersho control the train tops who would roam from car to car and surround these people and say, "your money or your life." throw pele off of these trains to the churning wheels below. it's incredible what these people would go through to try to get through the united states. >> mith: many migrants never mike it to america. along the tracks, gration police often find only discarded clothing. (woman speaking spanish): >> smith: according touman rights groups, six out of every ten women traveling the routepo being raped. and many get birth control injections before setting out t ir journey. >> i was astonished by the number of people i found crossing through mexico trying

to get to the u.s. who had faced some kind of kidnapping, or some kind of extortion, or some other kind of violen ad the people who mit here, it self-selects for people who have a tremendous amount of resilience, a tremendous aunt of courage, a tremendous amount of just physical strength to get across. s >> smith: arnod meybelin avoided the beast.d, instea arnovis paid a smuggler-- or "coye"-- to help him and meybelin. arnovis said the hardest part was when their coyote packed them in a traile (arnovis speaking spanish): >> smith: he says they spent 52 hours crammed inside the truck toth only an apple and a cracker and nowhere to ghe bathroom. when they finally reachethe

u.s. border, they were elated. it was may 26, 2018. before crossing the rio grande, they paused for a snapsh. si after cros, they were hoping to join arnovis's brother in kansas. did yoknow that you faced possible separation when you came across the border? >> smith: arnovis and meybelin surrendered to border patrol and were taken to a proces center in mcallen, texas. but 24 hours after they arrived, they were separated. (arnovis speaking spanish):

(muffled voices on radio) >> smith: the last time central amicans fleeing violence made big news was during the obama administration. (banging) (man speaking spanish): >> smith: in el salvador, val gangs ms-13 and 18th street were athear with each other and t police. (reporter in spanish): >> smith: bodies showed up every day. (reporter in spanish): >> smith: the violence spread to neighboring hondurasnd guatemala. (sirens blaring)ri obama's first term, many of those fleeing the violence were young people traveling without their parents.

and the numbers were steadily increasing. >> the govnment releasing stark new numbers from the crisis on our southern border. >> smith: then, 2014, there was an unprecedented surge of minors and young families. >> the border patrol says more dthan 55,000 unaccompanie children have been detainedsi e october. that is up 500 percent from... >> smith: u.s. offials were totally taken by surprise. >> ...caught off-guard by all this... >> people from central america-- unaccoanied children as well as adults with children-- tend to come in the spring, and then... so there is a sort ofmp n the number of people that comes that tends to decline in the super-hot months. >> unaccompanied minors making their way from central america...01 >>was an exception in that the usual bump that we were expecting-- and i say "we" because i was serving in the administration at the time-- was a hockey stick. the number of unaccompanied kids in particular spiked dramatically. (man speaking spanish): unaccompanied juvies by themselves. >> (translating for woman): thei

ence over there doesn't allow us to go to school, that's why we're coming over here.>> he u.s. seemed to be caught unaware that there were these push factors in central america, and that there was this surge that was developing, of these children. you know, if your house is on re, you are gonna find a way to get out. and these children were finding a way to get out. >> when i took office, ite commto fixing this broken immigration system. >> smith: then president obama asked amy pope to help coordinate the white house response. >> we started to hear from customs anborder protection, that they were starting to see an uptick of children coming through. it was clear that it was a pretty significant difference from what we'd seen in the past. >> leaked pictures show hundreds upon hundreds of children packed like sardines. >> smith: when pictures surfaced in the media, there was a national outcry. >> ...that 80% of the children had inadequate food and water supplies... they were very compelling

pictures.to it was harelieve that this was happening at the u.s.. border >> a tidal wave of unaccompanied alien children... is ...and they reinforced perception that our border was being flooded. >> (chting) (air horn honking) >> as we speak, there are enough republicans and democrats in the house to pass an immigration. bill >> smith: for the administration, the timing was terrible. >> some in the house republican tionus are using the sit with unaccompanied children as their newest excuse to do nothing. >> smith: president obama was, at the time, pursuing major immigration reform. but his decion to give temporary protection to undocumented children raised in u.s. was blamed for sending the wrong message. >> the president's own programs, the deferred action for childhood arrivals, daca, word's getting back home, "if you come to the united states and you're anchild, you just tell them you want to come in they're going to let you in." >> we're seeing a humanitarian disaster, one of the administration's o making.

>> smith: vice president biden's adviser was juan gonzalez. you were trying to push through immigration reform, then you gec 60,000 upanied minors on... coming across the border. what was going on inside the administration? >> well, i think there was a... i would say ths a general concern that the flow of migrants at the southwest border would eliminate any opportunity to actually advance meaninul immigration reform in the united states. >> u.s.a.! u.s.a.! >> the republicans had actually been asking the whe house to do, was to be stronger on immigration enforcemen there's no pleasing any side. i think on the right, youriseveg enough, and on the left, you're never being humanitarian enough. >> yeah, this is... i mean, we're on my property right now. that fence right there is my neighbor. >> smith: as the numbers of migrants increased, so did anti-immigrant sentiment. las, year we met mike vicker local veterinari in brooks county, texas, right on the

border with mexico.ne >> we to go through this gate. >> smith: he blamed obama's immigration proposals for luring thousands of young migrants to erica. >> the obama administration hurt us. when he declared that if they have a family member here, he was going to allow them to stay. i mean, it was, like, 24 hours later, here they come. i've got pictures of theuge groups of these teenagers pouring acrossintercepting them out here, huge groups of em coming through.♪ ♪ th >> sin order to prevent migrants from coming onto his land, vickers had set up an electric fence. >> there's two wires on the top, one on the inside and one on the outside. it's 220 volts, but it's amped down so it won't kill anybody, so if somebody touches it, it's gonna roll their eyes back a little bit. they're gonna think twice about trying to climb over the fence.

consequely, they dig under or they cut holes underneath it. we're constantly plugging up these holes, or pahing the areas that they cut. >> smith: vickers runs a local militia that helps border patrol track down undocumented migrants. >> this guy is another body, we find a lot of these, you know >> smith: he shared his laminated pictures of dead migrants found on his ranch. >> this one is of the more recent ones, this guy was... >> smith: migrants who died of dehydration or hypothermia. almost 7,000 dead migrants have been found along the border since 2000. >> this girl is right by a c crawl.wl hole 50 yards from the front gate you drove in. i'm black and white. i'm not gray. everybody that is coming to this country illegally are going to have to face some consequences. the bottom line is as simple as this: they've broken our laws by coming into our country illegally.

ether they're trying to flee violence, fleeing a terrible economic situation, i don't care what their circumstances are. we cannot take care of the whole world. (conversing in spanish): >> smith: u.s. and international iow allows anyone-- man, woman, or child-- fleeingnce to seek asylum. (woman speaking spanish): >> smith: immigration advocates urged presidenobama to be more compassionate. (man speaking spanish): >> we're talking about, yo know, 60,000 children who were apprehended by border patrol. i mean, those kids wouldn't fill a large football stadium in this country. i believe that we can handle e at level of compassion.

>> smith: the whuse pushed back. >> the truth is, you can absorb 70,000 kids if it ends at 70,000 kids. the question is, is that the end of i the population in central america is in the millions. we don't have an immigration policy that says, "if you comere you get to stay here." it's not clear that if we did have thapolicy, we would have it for central americans and noo for othetries around the world. it's not clear that what was happening in ctral america is worse than what was happening in sudan or syria, or anywhere else. (man speaking spanish) we didn'think it was feasible or consistent with what the american public would toleratet to jy, "okay, you get here, you're in." (chatter on radio) >> smith: under pressure from republicans, thedministration ordered several tough measures, including more border agents

and accelerated deportations. >> smith: immigration advocates called obama the deporter-in-chief. >> most imrtantly we will live... most importantly, we will live up... >> families are separated! >> most importantly, w live up... >> i cannot see my family again! >> ...to our charaer as a nation... >> smith: to deter more immigrants, the obama administration even considered separating children from their parents when they crossed. >> i do remember being struck that that was a pretty ereme proposal, and that it wasn't considered for very long becse it was a terrible idea. >> smith: and what wasdea, exactly? >> the idea is effectively what the trump administration hasch enacted, ws to prosecute everybody who enters illegally, which would neceitate separating kids from their parents. d and n't consider it for

very long 'cause it was, on its ace, a terrible idea. >> smith: who rais objection to that idea? >> it didn't need to be raised. we all kind ofooked at each other and said, "we're not gonna do that, are we?" and it was pretty clear we weren't. and that's pretty much as far as it went. >> a multi-million-dollar detention center has just opened in texas... >> smith: they rejected separating children froms, pareut they did commit to an expanded use of family detention. >> in terms of what options might be on the table, detention for families, intact families, seemed to be the only place to go. >> just beyond the dusty dirt field sits the largest imgrant family detention center in the united states. >> smith: to accommodate the growing backlog of asylum seekers, the president orderedco the truction of more detention centers. >> the facility quietly opened this week in dilley, texas. >> smith: how did you feel aboui the idea of bu out the infrastructure to allow you to detain families with children? >> i was not excited about family detention, but at the end er the day, the options

available to the gent are all pretty terrible. we don't have the robust asylums prthat we need for this kind of a situation. >> smith: inside family detention, conditions could be harsh. >> there's nothing "family" about it. these are vulnerable asylum-seeking mothers and their children, asking for help, and in response our government transferred them to a detention center where some of them suffer needlessly and are ultimately deported. >> smith: katie shepherd provided pro bono assistance to families detained in a facility in dilley, texas. >> it looks like a large fema camp-- high fences ahe way around the facility. if you drive up to the detention center in dilley, from the highway, the center is actually recessed into the ground, so you can't even see the detention center.

and at night all you see aree thg lights that really light up the sky, it's a barre thing. but it is very much hidden and dilley is a tiny little town thatas, like, four gas stations and a few taco stands, and that's it. it's far away from robustl lemmunities, and that decreases the likelihood thatle these pere able to get a meaningful day in court. >> smith: family detention remained in place for a year. but then obama r squarely into something called the flores settlement. >> there's a settlement out there called flores that limits when and how children can be held in detention. we read it as children cannot be held in detention alone underum any ciances. but flores wasn't clear that it applied to children who were with their parents. >> smith: but then immigration advocatesued the government

arguing that flores should apply to any and all children held in detention, with or without their families. they won. >> late friday night, a federal judge ruled that detention centers do not meet legal standards. >> the current policy of detaining immigrt children and their mothers is unlawful. >> the judge ultimatelyte ined that you could not detain children for long periods of time, and established a 20-day limit. >> smith: president obama was forced to releasfamilies intact pending court hearings. it was near the end of his term. (sirens wailing) (cheers and applause) >> thank you. that is someroup of people, thousands. so nice, thank you very much, that's really nice, thank you. >> smith: on theorning of june 16, 2015, donald trump announce

hirun for the presidency. t >>hey are bringing drugs. they are bringing crime. they are rapists and some, i assume, are good people. >> smith: he invoked fears of a border out of control. >> the border is a disaster. people are pouring in, and i mean illegal people, illegal immigrants, and they're pouring in. >> smi: trump had struck election gold. >> illegal immigrants, with criminal records, are night roaming free to threaten aceful citizens. >> smith: he would return to the theme time and time again on the campaign trail... >> we have some bad hombres here m and we're going to get tt. >> smith: ...and as president. >> and yes, we will build the wall, it will be built. (helicopr running)

>> his first trip to california as president included a look at the eight wall prototypes. >> smith: after taking office, trump moved quickly. >> if you don't have a wall system, we're not going to have a country. rr>> several deportation ats in northern california today... >> smith: in his first 100 days ndin office, immigration a cuoms enforcement, ice, rounded up 40,000 undocumented immigrants. ed trump also broadenhe criteria for deportation and threatened to cut funding to sanctuary cities. >> ...to turn off the federal spigot for any city that refuses to cooperate on people in this country illegally. >> smith: but some migrants continued to come ac (man speaking spanish): >> smith: the president seemed especially frustrated by thepo licy of arresting family units and then releasing them pending a court date.g >> we are gointo end catch and

release. we catch them, "oh, go ahead." we catch them, "go ahead." >> if these orders are carried ngt, they will radically c how immigration is enforced. it orders an end to catch and release.he >> smith: sorump administration began considering something far more draconian-- separation of parents and children at the border, the same policy that obama had rejected. >> force them back. >> are you, the department of homeland security, considering a new initiative that would separate children from their parents if they try to enter the united states illegally? >> yes, i am considering, into ordeeter more movement along this terribly dangerous network, i am considering exactly that. >> we were very concerned about nkthe consideration of a b policy of this nature. so we continued to monitor the situation. but we were unable to get confirmation that there was a

policy in place from the administration. at e were told repeatedly was that it was being considered and that they continued to seet as the solution for how to prevent people from coming to our border and asking for asylum. >> there's been reports that you are considering separating s children from their moth the border, and i want to know, whether that's true. >> only if the situation... >> smith: a month later, at a ienate hearing, kelly publicly walked back his ea statement on separations. >> if the mother is sick or addicted to drugs or whatever. in the same way we would do it i hethe united states if we... >> so, if you thought the childr was enda... >> not routinely. sure. >> that's, that's the only circumstance to which you would separate? >> can't, can't imagine doing otherwise. >> yeah. >> smith: but ree months later, they did just that. the trump administration quietle n a pilot program at the southern border.

>> and we soon learned that there were hundreds of litile dren who had been takents from their par. d so while everyone's waiting to see whether they're gonna enact a "policy," they were doing it anyway. (dog barking) >> smith: that smer we were in tijuana, mexico, and spoke to esmeralda rodriguez and her three daughters, who had sought refuge at this shelter for women and children. (children laughing) they were planning to ask for asylum by entering the cntry legally at a checkpoint in san diego. but they had heard rumors that families were either beingat turned awahe checkpoint or detained and separated. (girl speaking spanish): (interviewer speaking): s

th: the family had fled el salvador in november 2016. they say they escaped after the oldest, alis, witnessed a murder. (alison speaking (intviewer speaking): (ason speaking): (interviewer speaking): (alison speaking):

>> smith: alison's mother said there was no turning back. (interviewer speaking): (esmeralda speaking): (waves crashing) >> smith: the practice ofng separaamilies was in effect by the fall of 2017.ti but oppo was muted. >> i have put in place a zero- tolerance policy for illegal

entr.. >> smith: it was not until months later that attorney general jeff sessions made the separation policy explicit while on a border visit to san diego. he said the government had to separate children while their parents were prosecuted for illegal entry. >> if you are smuggling a child, then we will prosecute you and that child may be separated from you as required by law. >> get out of here.al >> if you make statements... >> are you going to beil separating famies? is that why you're here? >> smith: behind sessions was the acting director of ice, tom homan. >> i was honored to stand next to jeff sessions to announce this decision, surrounded by many american heroes wearing green, with one heckler th probably doesn't know the first thing about serving this nation. >> do you ve a heart? do you have a soul? get out of here! why do you work for this administration? >> in order to carry out these

important policies.. >> it's not a new policy. dhs has not changed their policy on separating families. what we're saying is, if you cross the country illegally,po between ths of entry, you're going to be prosecuted. we've done it before, now we're just going to do zero tolence. we made it clear... >> smith: but we hadn't separated families. b >> we'n separating families for the 34 years i've been doing this job. >> smith: yes, you've been se arating families if there threat to the welfare of the child. this is a much broader application of this enforcement. >> agree. is do more of it. >> smith: this dn to enforce the law much more strictly resulted in the separation of somewhere between 2,000 to 3,000 parents from eir children. that was new. >> i agree. >> smith: the trump administration argued they were forced to do it because under the flores settlement, children cannot be held for more than 20 days in an adult detention facility. they said they faced a stark choice. t >> a choice is binary: to separate the children or instead

within 20 days, to let the parents and the children go fr into society with the expectation they show up for court... >> the administration has been creating this false dichotomy, this false choiceat he only options are separation or family detention, which they say they couldn't do. the reality is, is that alternatives to detention exist specifically designed as humane, affordab, and effective options. th >> smiinstead of choosing another option, the trump administration simply separated children andhe sent them to sers. >> the conditions are more than comfortable for these kids while their parents are being prosecuted for illegal ery. they're keeping them in aec protted, safe environment that, frankly, is probably superior to some of the situations you see in our ties and towns... >> smith: jessica vaughan is the director of policy studies at aa ington-based think tank that

advocates strong border enforcement. >> ...for these shelters, but they are appropriate for these kids, and... >> smith: has this been do ever before in american history? >> it certainly has been done if it's determined that the parent is a risk to the child. th >> smith's different. that's a child welfare issue. that's to protect the child.th 's different. has there ever been a time in american history where parents were separated from their children by the government forcibly? >> well, certainly in the criminal justice system it has been. >> smith: yeah.th bu's different. that's for the welfare of the child. n i can't think of another time that i know of wds have been separated from the caretaker parent. >> smith: in fact, the last time children were separated like this was when the government forcibly separated native american children from their families. a lot of americans find it appalling.

what do you say to them?>> think it's appalling that we have to do it.at >> smith: o you think the consequences are for these children that have gone through, that are still going through, this trauma? >> i, i think it's ver possible that some of these kids will, will have some lasting effects. mi >>: for 15-year-old yoselyn bulux, who crossed into arizona with her mother on june 1, it was traumatic. they were picked up and initially taken to a cell which detainees call "the ice box." (y elyn speaking spanish): >> smith: thin hours, they were separated.

yoselyn was sent to a texas shelter. her mother remained in arizona. (interviewer speaking): (yoselyn speaking): li (sni) >> smith: for the very young, the experience is likely even morearrowing. michelle brané visitedldren inetention in june. >> i observed young children being held in separate cells from their parents, pending

processing. in some cases, they were extremely distraught.id they had n what was going to happen to them. they had not been told. >> smith: brané asked to interview some of the children. >> we were given a list by the government and we were told that we could choose who we wanted to speak to. h looking throe list of over 500 names, i noticed that there were some very young children there, including a two-year-old, several one-year-olds, and one child that was listed as being zero. so i asked to see those children. they left and came back and said thet they couldn't fin children. they said to me, "well, we called out their name and nobody responded. so we don't know where they are." so i sort of said... >> smith: these are babies. >> "they're babies. they're babies obviously they're not gonna respond to their name being called. perhaps you need to locate the adulwho's in charge of them. who's taking care of these babies?" and they had no answer for me. they just shook their head and said, "i don't know." >> growing outrage tonight as thousands of children are split

u.s.-mico border...at the >> the battle over the trump administration's zero-tolerance policy on immigration is litensifying. >> if the statueberty could cry, she would be crying today. as i stand here, there are 2,300 babiesnd kids who were ripped away from their parents by our government and are in detention facilities across america. >> smith: outrage came from both the right anthe left. >> you are not forgotten! you are not forgotten! >> many of the criticisms raised in recent days are not fair, not logical, and some are contrary to plain law. >> smith: on june 14, attorney general sessions responded to criticism by invokinpture. >> ...due to the apostle paulcl and hir and wise command in romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because god s ordained the government for his purposes. >> i'm not aware of the attorney general's comments or what he

would be referencing...mi >>: later that day, sarah huckabee sanders backed sessions up. >> can say that it is very biblical to enforce the law, that is actually repeated a number of times throughout the bible. (man talking) hold on, jim if you'll let me finish. again, i'm not going to comment n' the attorney's specific comments that i haseen. >> you just said it's in the bible to follow the law. >> it's not what i said and please don't take my words out of context. come on, sarah, you're parent. don't you have any empathy for what these people are going through? they have less than you do. >> brian, guys. sarah, come on. seriously. >> settle down. >> it's a serious question. these people have no they come to the border with nothing. and you throw children in cages. you're a parent. you're a parent of young children. don't you have any empathy for what they go through? >> jill, go ahead. (child wailing) ea (girl ng): >> smith: four days after that, an audio tape was published by propublica. it led the news for days.

>> smith: when you heard the tape that propublica publishedhe of thildren wailing, what was your reaction? >> i didn't hear the tape. smith: oh, come on. >> i did not hear the tape. i did not hear the tape. >> smith: i can't believe that. >> i've ard many children cry in my 34 years. i don't need to hear children cry. >> smith: can i play it for you> eah. >> i can have it pulled up. (child crying on recording) >> smith: it's a young girl who asks to call her aunt. she wants to call her she has the number memorized. (girl crying, speaking spanish) (recording continues) >> smith: what do you think? >> it tugs at the heartstrin for sure. >> smith: how can you not condemn that?

>> look, i, i've seen a lot of terrible things in my 34 years. but we have to address the border. i mean... >> smith: do you notthize with their situation? >> absolutely-- i'm a parent. it's sad. t but wh government chooses to enforce the law and they separate the parents who have been prosecuted, just very u.s. citizen person in this country, gets separated when he gets arreste but people want a different set of rules for an illegal alien. >> we're signing an executive order, i consider it to be a very important executive order.e it's aboutng families together. >> smith: two days after the audio tape of e wailing children, the president reversed course. >> you're gog to have a lot of happy people. el very strongly about it, we don't like to see families separated. at the same time, we don't want people coming into our country illegally. this takes care of the problem.m thank you veh, everybody. >> (chanting): where are the children?

where are the children? >> smith: the president's order stopped future separations, butn it said nothg about what would happen with the childrenlready separated.et >> shem free! set them free! set them free! >> smith: on june 30, demonstrators in 700 cities and towns across america demanded reunication. >> tnk you all for coming out. hey there, everyone, we're headed towards the department of justice. smith: as a result of an a.c.l.u. lawsuit, a federal judge in california had dered the government to reunite all separated children within one month. 15-year-old yoselyn bulux was released from a chilen's shelter in brownsville, texas, on june 30. oman speaking spanish) six days later, her mother, juana, was released from a detention center in eloy, arizona. volunteers paid r bond. (juana speaking):

>> smith: she was released with another guatemalan woman, amia, who had been separat from her two boys. (amalia speaking): >> smith: the following days would be full of hotelooms and car rides...oo >> gmorning! >> smith: ...as the two were driven across the country to reunite with their children. (amalia speaking): (juana speaking): >> si. (juana speaking):

>> smith: in new york, mothere and daughter wunited after 38 days apart.ju ana says her daughter had changed. (juana speaking): (yoselyn speaking):

♪ >> smith: despite a court orr, hundreds of children remain separated from their parents. (man speaking): >> smith: maritza and wilfredo, who i saw in the shelter in mcallen, texas, wereet by her brother in virginia. maritza now reports to the authorities every 15 days while she waits for her asylum hearing. the rodriguez family spent four weeks in family detentionei before b released. we have since lost touch with them. ui

meybelin gdos was sent back to el salvador after 33 days in the shelter in arizona. her father says she has also changed. now she is quiet, he says, and cries a lot. (arnovis speaking): >> smith: but e day before we arrived, meybelin had started to talk about her experiences for the first time. (maybelin speaking):

(arnovis and maybelin speaking): (arnovis speaking): (maybelin speaking): (arnovis speaking): (maybelin speaking): dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete... (arnovis speaking):

>> go to pbs.org/frontline to read more from the former director of ice, tom homan. >> i've seen a lot of terrible things in my 34 years, but we have to address the border. >> and follow the story of maybelin and her father from el salvador to the u.s. and back again. then visit our films page, where you can watch over 200" "frontlicumentaries. connect to the "frontline" community on facebook and twitter, and sign up for our newsletter at pbs.org/frontline. >> narrator: next time on "frontline..." >> you will not replace us! >> narrator: after charlottesville... (people yelling) >> is your sense that there's neenergy joining these movements? >> it's probably the most active in my career. >> narrator: "frontlinnd propublica investigate... >> ...what you were doing in

charlottesville last year. >> narrator:..who was behind the violent white supremacist rally. >> there's video of you launching yourself into that crowd. we think he's serving in the marines now. ♪ fr >>tline" is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewersike you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support is provid by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to buildinre just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information is available at macfound.org. the ford foundation, working with visionariesn the front lines of social change worldwide, at fordfoundation.org. additional support is provided by the abrams foundation, mmitted to excellence in journalism. the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issu. the john and helen glessner smmily trust, supporting trustworthy journahat informs and inspires. and by the "frontline"

journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. and additional support from chris and lisa kaneb. ♪ ♪ s >> for more on td other frontline programs, visit our website at pbs.org/frontline. ♪ "frontline's" "separated: children at the border" is available on dvd. to order, visit shop.pbs.org or call 1-800-play-pbs. "frontline" is also available o for downloitunes. ♪

>> you're watching pbs. >> erdbrink: once upon a time on a dusty road, i met a girl. (girl laughing >> erdbrink: 17 ars later, i'm still here. thomas erdbrink welcome to the program. >> narrator: from a country where nothing is allowed. but, everything is possible. stories from the inside... >> in this country especially if you live with fear, you're done.

- [carlos] ruth zukerman never set out to bsinesswoman. - [ruth] i wanted to be a professional dancer. - [carlos] but when her marriagended and her future seemed unclear. - hit it! - [carlos] she ended ur turning her passion fitness into a booming business. not once but twice. don't leave me now. - [carlos] so how did this single mom go from life as a homemaker, to building a boutique fitness empire. (mumbling) - [carlos] and what kept her movi on the path - [carlos] and what kept her to breaking big. what makes people successful? whatre the unexpected turns in light s?at propel people to grea i'm carlos watson editor of ozy. eai'm out to uncover the secrets behind breaking big.