welcome to the program, everyone. here's what's coming up. riding the death train to america's border, we bring you a heart wrenching report on family separation of hundreds of children still wait to be reunited to their parents. what will it take to build an american immigration system? i ask steven vargas, the first undocumented immigrant to join the new york state bar. >> welcome to the program, everyone. i'm christiane amanpour in new

york. the separation of nearly 3,000 families at the u.s. southern border this summer sparked outrage from across the aisle. eventually forcing the trump administration to reverse its own zero tolerance policy. and leaving a bureaucratic nightmare in its wake. a bubble, it was a stark reminder of the pain that separations bring to families who risk it all for a better life. and to get a real feel for this human tragedy beyond the headlines and the snapshots, journalist guillermo has been following some of the desperate people on their journey. here's his report. >> reporter: this is the story of two women, one traveling through mexico bound for the u.s., desperate to find a safe life with her children. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: she has already made the journey, but was deported back to guatemala with her daughters. and is now fighting simply to

bring them both home. it's the cheapest ticket to the united states. a network of mexican cargo trains whose extra load are all chasing an american dream. for those with no money, this is the only choice. 20-year-old is from honduras. she is six months pregnant and is traveling with her 4-year-old son. while her husband marlon keeps watch back home, they say local gangs fight to kill them when they took over the neighborhood. soon after, the news came that donald trump was no longer separating parents from their children at the u.s. border, so they decided it was time to head

north. we join them in southern mexico as they began their dangerous journey. we don't know what happened. sometimes immigration stops the train and sometimes also the mexican cartels who charge a fee to the migrants. it's well known. they make millions out of it. this time was a false alarm, and the train starts up again. they still have over a thousand miles to travel. the train carried her family as far as southern mexico. to reach the u.s. border, they will have to catch at least five more. they left honduras over a week ago. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> reporter: it's almost 4:00 a.m., but the beast as it's known has no timetable. so no one wants to miss it. >> all these people are going up north to the united states. they are running away from poverty and violence in central america. entire families, children as young as 3. >> reporter: they have celeste just two hours. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: here they must board the beast while it's moving.

but it's going too fast or them to jump on. with no money, this young family has no choice but to walk ten hours to a migrant shelter in the next town. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: and tempers are fraying. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: the shelter is over 50 miles away. she is worried she may not make it. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> reporter: they have only the tracks as a guide. we join them for the walk. a punishing day in 35 degree heat. but 13 hours later, all finally made it. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: after days on the road, these refuge provide a rare moment of calm. and for her and her family, it's the first hot meal in a long time. it is also a rare place for young women making this journey alone. everyone here is heading for the u.s., but they are still not even halfway there.

almost 300 miles south in guatemala city, others who have already made this dangerous journey now find themselves back where they started. up to five planes land here every day from the u.s. carrying the deported. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: most here don't feel very lucky. this year trump's zero to si deported hundreds of parents back to south america without their children. he signed an executive order to end it, but most families are still waiting to be reunited. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> reporter: she was one of them. she also rode the beast to reach the united states, but was picked up for crossing the u.s. border illegally, then deported back to guatemala nine months ago without her two daughters. gracie and jennifer are just 3 and 5 years old. they are being held in a detention center in texas. the trump administration says parents like grace knew the risks. after she was deported, she didn't speak to her children for two months. now she gets one phone call a week. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> reporter: she says both girls have grown increasingly distant. >> reporter: grace has no idea if she will ever see her daughters again. >> reporter: back in mexico, she and her family are now 500 miles from the u.s. border. and are ready to catch the next train. marlon jumps on the first carriage to ask the driver to stop, leaving her alone with marlon, jr. her husband's plan doesn't seem to be working. so a kind stranger helps her son onto the train.

it is still moving too fast for her. >> reporter: after she chases the train for ten minutes, it finally stops. >> reporter: marlon is confused

and terrified. >> reporter: we tried to help her find her husband. with no sign of him, she finds space where she can. then he comes up.

>> reporter: it's been a long morning, but the family has to keep going. the train crosses into cabasco state. she and her husband haven't spoken all day. as the light fades, a moment of nighttime.

>> reporter: like dunia, grace also wanted her children to grow up in the u.s. instead of here in guatemala. now she just wants them to come home, so she's come to the capital to push her government for answers. >> reporter: she has few options but to wait.

>> reporter: the u.s. government has begun to reunite families, but only recently admitted that more than 400 people were deported without their children. she is just one of them. it is only two hours from the u.s. border. after six weeks of traveling, they have made it to northern mexico. she and her son will hand themselves over to u.s. authorities at the border and

pray they won't be separated. now almost eight months pregnant, she and her son will apply for asylum and think they have more chance if they go alone. >> reporter: a few weeks ago, her brother was picked up by mexican authorities trying to make this same journey. they deported him back to honduras. yesterday she found out that he was murdered by the same gang who had threatened her.

>> that heart breaking report fr from guillermo. we are pleased encouraging updates exist for both families. she was reunited with her daughters last wednesday in guatemala city after 11 months and 12 days separated. marlon and dunia, the couple, decided to cross together as a family in the end and they were detained by the u.s. border patrol and were eventually released together and are currently living in mississippi. dunia is still waiting to give birth. what about their legal limbo, their dream for a better american life? i asked caesar vargas. he was just 5 years old when his mother brought him across the border from tijuana to san diego nearly 30 years ago. and in 2016 he became the first immigrant without legal status to join the new york state bar. caesar vargas, welcome to the

program. you just heard and you've watched that heart wrenching film. you know, the story has kind of a happy ending, thank goodness. but what's your reaction to the story of those two women? >> for me, i couldn't help to think and remember my own mother and the journeys that she traveled to come to the u.s.. and while the journey is absolutely much more dangerous now than it was back then, it still reminds me of the courage and the ultimate sacrifice that each parent and all of those women -- women and parents crossing the border each year, of the sacrifice that they're willing to do and to give just so they can -- their children can have a better life. and for me that's why i'm always grateful for my mother. i'm grateful for her courage. i'm grateful she sacrificed everything. and most important, to remind the nation that this is the love of a parents. this is not about national, international politics. this is simply the love of a parent who is willing to do

everything so her child could have a better opportunity. and for my mom, i can imagine that she was going through all that crossing the border where she could have been killed. t in her heart, she was doing that, that one day one of her sons could be an attorney. >> you say it is now much, much more dangerous for these parents and for their kids. we've seen it, but tell us from your standpoint as an immigrant and now as an immigration attorney, why is it so much more dangerous now? >> when i first came in, probably like almost 30 years ago, the people wer cssing back and forth. the points of entry were very accessible. people were entering almost in urban areas, in city areas. nowadays, because of walls and fencing, people have been directed to the deserts, to more hostile locations where it's either scorching hot or there is no water, and locations where they are subject to possible --

confronting enterprises like cartels. the dangers now are definitely much more increased than what we saw back 30 years ago. and also the increase in immigrant deaths has also risen as a result of people dying in the desert, as a result of women and children being killed or kidnapped. i think these are the dangers we're seeing now, especially in this administration. the danger of not just crossing the u.s. border, but now the danger of being ripped apart, not just by cartels, but also by the federal government here in the u.s., where if you cross, your child could be ripped apart. fortunately that policy has been rescinded, but we are still seeing that many of these children, almost 500 children, are still separated from their parents. almost 400 of those parents have been deported. that means that their children are here alone, abandoned thanks to the federal government.

>> and we've seen these awful images, even in new york, whe w we're talking right now, of kids being taken to a facility in east harlem under cover of night because nobody really wanted to show the world what was going on. what hope do they have of being reunited? it's been very difficult for the government to actually try to reunify these people under a court order. >> no question about it, it's much more difficult to reunify many of the people who have been -- the parents who have been deported. it's just to think about that. when a parent is deported, he or she comes from small villages in guatemala, honduras, el salvador. it's difficult enough to locate the families here when the crisis was at its highest. in new york city, many parents were in indiana, florida. now the federal government pretty much has to undergo higher, especially when we have to locate the parents in small villages in central america. and the worst, the federal

government is forcing organizations like aclu and other nonprofits to do their work when it was the federal government separating them. so legally wise, the judge saw that the trump administration created chaos when it came to separating families. and the federal government had no plan whatsoever in reunifying these children, had no plan whatsoever to address any possible crisis. and it was an intentional crisis, in fact. attorneys themselves have a difficult time understanding immigration law, let alone a parent who probably doesn't know how to read or write, and to separate their dh separate their children from them, it was the only option they had. >> what happens now to the families we've been talking about, the ones we saw in the film, the woman from guatemala city, who was separated for 11 months from her daughters? and finally the daughters have

been deported out of the united states and sent back and they're all now in guatemala? as we know dunia and marlon, the other couple, they did come in and they're in mississippi right now. what is the future for these people? how, how regular will it be for dunia and marlon to try to get immigration status here? and gretis who is back in guatemala city, can she ever try again or has she got a permanent black mark on her record? >> yeah, well, congress gets its act together, what we can do now is ensure that cities and states can provide the resources to ensure that many people like greta, people like marlon and to ensure they have legal representation to understand their cases. just this past week i had a couple who came from el salvador, and i had to help them really bring their court case from texas all the way to new york city. and now working with them to ensure that they find proper representation to help them with their asylum cases.

so, the laws are obviously convoluted, but the estates can provide legal representation. the city of new york has invested incredible resources to ensure we are allocating millions of dollars to ensure that these families have legal representation. and, of course, mental health services, many of these children are suffering trauma like no other. and american association of pediatrics has said this is pretty much government sanctioned abuse. immigration customs enforcement continues to separate families and we're going to have a conversation, how do we abolish i.c.e. and city council man chalka and others across the country are having the conversation, how cities can act while the federal government fails to act. >> let's just finally wrap this up. you use very sort of shocking term, government-sanctioned abuse on these children. i mean, it puts it in stark relief really what's happening to these children. but what do you say to the people who say, yeah, we hate to see these families ripped apart, but we cannot have our border,

you know, bust open by illegal immigration? and if parents want to do this with their children, then they know the risks? >> no question that people obviously have concerns. reasonable people can disagree. no question about that. but when we're talking about immigration, we're not just talking about a problem here of people coming into the country and really settling down. this is a bigger problem that we need to start talking about, about international policies of u.s., european policies, whether it's trade, whether it's economic. we want to make sure we address the intervention of the u.s. and european powers into places like africa, the middle east, central america, south america where the cia has literally shown they're intervening, assassinating leaders just to destabilize nations in south america.

these are the root causes of immigration. no one wants to go through a dangerous journey just to come to the u.s. people want to live their lives. and until we address that, we need to ensure we can work on that so we can be better neighbors. all of us can be better neighbors. the u.s. can be a better neighbor in north america, south america, central america. europe can be a better neighbor to africa, the middle east and eastern europe. that's what we need to do. and we need to address foreign intervention by europe and the u.s. about family separation. >> caesar vargas, thank you so much for joining us. that's it for our program tonight. thank you for watching amanpour on pbs. join us monday. we begin a expanded version of the program, it will be called amanpour and company. so we look forward to seeing you then. ♪ announcer: national

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