>> narrator: before el paso became a target... >> this is now one of theli top ten est mass shootings...to >> the gunld police, "i came here to kill mexicans." >> narrator: it was a testing ground for immigration policy. >> this is an vasion! >> this was in fact a pilot family separation.ero tolerance >> narrator: frontline investigates- >> the government is trying to break their spirit so that they don'tven try to claim asylum. >> narrator: "targeting el paso". tonight on frontline. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

and by the corporation f public broadcasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur fountion, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. and by the ford foundation:is working withnaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide.po additional s is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellence injo nalism. the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness ofritical issues. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. the heising-simons fion: unlocking knowledge, opportunity, and possibilities. and by the frontline journalism withajor support from jon and jo ann hagler. and ditional support from chris and lisa kaneb. (man panting)

>> man (in spanish): (people shouting) >> help! >> we need cpr! weeed cpr! ♪ >> smith: the first call came from walrt on the u.s.-mexican border at 10:39 a.m.) (gunshots bang the killing spree lasted several minutes. 22 people dead. ♪ many of the victims were mexican-americans. eight were from el paso's sister city, juárez. k

>>w that walmart really well, and i know who shops there-- it's a very popular destination for mexican shoppers coming legally across the border. >> hands up, hands up!ew >> so i the place was going to be paed with mexican shoppers, and also with el paso families because school was getting back in session. >> go! go! go! come on! >> this is now one of the topt ten deadlimass shootings in u.s. history. >> the suspect alive in police custody. >> smith: the suspect was patrick crusius of allen, texas. what did you learn about the shooter at that time? >> not from el paso. 700 miles away in the dallas area. i heard about his diatribe, his screed, whatever you want to call it. um, i did see that, he said he fully expected to die. and in reality, he surrendered as a coward. s th: a four-page manifesto

appeared online 19 minutes before thettack. >> if you look at his rant, he chose elaso because this is where the spanic invasion of texas is happening. "they're taking oujobs, they're coming to replace us." the gunman, when he was kento into c, told police, "i came here to kill mexicans." ♪ (feedback screeches) >> mic check test, one two three, three two one, one two three, three two one. eryone good? >> thank you all for joining with us here today. my name is greg abbott, i'm the governor of texas. and want to let you know... texas grieves for the people of paso today. i ask that you keep el pasoans in your prayers. we know the power of prayer and the power that you can have by using that prayer.

>> smith: in the first hours after the attack, governor abbott was reluctant to call the shooting a hate crime. b tom line is, mental health is a large contributor to any ty of violence or shooting violence. we know that's a component to shootingthat take place in schools. >> governor abbott talked about how these things are always connected to mental illness. . challenging mental health- based issues. >> he couldn't even bring himself to utterhe phrase "hate crime" in, in the press conference. by this point,verybody was aware of the manifesto. k everybody d of tap dancing around this. and so i jusgot as loud as i could and deliberately chose to ask the question to representative escobar. and she was the only one at that point who had the courage to call this for what it was. >> the manifto narrative is fueled by hate. and it's fueled by racism, and

o gotry, and division. this is someone me from outside of our community to do us harm. a community that has shown nothing but generosity and kindness to the least among us-- those people arriving at america's front door. (siren blaring) ♪ >> smith: later that day, governor abbott said that the a hate crime.d be prosecuted as are you from el paso? >> yes, i'm from el paso. >> smith: how do you make sense of this? >> i never thought ts would ppen in our, our city. i do feel heartbroken for the families, especially for the babies, because i have four of my own. tso it's going to take soe to heal. ♪

>> man (in spanish): ♪ >> i'm hispanic. i lived... i've lived here for 73 years and it really, really hurts, you know? because i don't hate you. you're white, i'm brown. to me, everybody's the same, and it really hit home. from.esn't matter where you come (rotors whirring) ♪ >> smith: a few days later, i met with representative veronica escobar, a third-generation el pasoan. >> welcome, yeah, welcome to el paso. >> smith: it's been a hell of a week. yeah. horrible. i just got back from the hospital. those folks endured so mh... >> smith: you still have some in critical condition?

>> mm-hmm. there sure are. >> smith: when did you start to make a connection between what was unfolding at walmart and all of the rhetoric that's been directed at migrants over the >> when i heard about the alleged manifesto, and it was, it was already online, it was starting to spread like wildfire, and it was clear that in that manifesto, there were things that have been said by o fox news, er politicians, and by the person with the biggest bully lpit, the loudest voice in this country, the president. >> when mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, i assume, are good people.at so with imn, you better be smart, and you better be toh, and they're taking your jobs, and you better be careful. we have people trying to come

in. we're stopping a lot of them. but we're tang people out of you wouldn't belie bad these people are. these aren't people. these are animals. this is an invasion.ee when youhese caravans starting out with 20,000 people-- that's an invasion. p but how do you sese people? >> you can-- there's no... (laughter) that's only in the panhandle you can get away with that atemt. (cheers and applause) >> smith: we asked the trump administration to provide an official who could speak to us about immigration. >> we have a crisis at the southern border... >> smith: they arrange interview with ken cuccinelli, someone who backs the president's tough rhoric. the rhetoric used by the president, and by yourself, has been extremely harsh. how much does that, do you thin contribute to what we s happen at walmart in el paso?

>> i don't think it contributes at all to something like that happening. this is a person who has got boilinhatred and committing domestic terrorism, that's what that is. that's not caused byhetoric, that's a long thought out decision, we saw his >> smith: that manifesto used language that was echoing what was being used by the president and on fox news and other sources. e you know on the other s this debate we hear nazi allusions and we hear concentration ca comments, but i reject the connection between public debate, even tough public debate, and acts of violence. >> authorities say the shooter drove ten hours to geto this walmart here in el paso. this city is 80% latino, and it's at the center of a national debate. >> smith: i arrived in el paso last may, three months before the attack at walmart. i came here to understand why this border crossing was

suddenly sing a dramatic spike in the numr of migrants. i wanted to understand how president trump was handling this surge.s critarge that the president's approach and his rhetoric have inflamed the crisis. >> the border city of el paso, texas, used to have extremely high rat of violent crime. >> smith: six months before the singled out el paso in his state of the union address. >> one of our nation's most dangerous cities... >> smith: he exaggerated claims out the crime rate, touting the success of a reinforced fence along the border. >> now, th a powerful barrier in place, el paso is one of the safest cities in our country. (cheers and applause) >> smith: el paso's republican mayowas quick to respond. the president said, immediately after building the wel paso is one of the safest cities in our country."

>> my response was, "yes, we are one of the safest cities in the country, but we had been before the fence went up." (cheers and applause) the fenchad no direct impact on our overall crime rate. >> thank youery much, el paso, thank you very much. (cheers and applause) >> smith: president trump came to el paso several days after his state of the union address. >> they've been trying to say,"o the wall didn't make that much..." >> smith: he disputed the mayor's assessment, even thougho el paso ha bn considered one of the before the fence wcted.a, even >> but i don't care whether a mayor is a republican or a democrat. they're full of crap when they say it hasn't de a big difference. >> smith: and he just said "you're full of crap." >> well, he did at that time. but irrespective of that, i corrected the record from day one. >> smith: still, el paso had from the beginning drawn the attention of the t administration. in april 2017, just three months into trump's presidency, jeff

sessions, the attorney general, came to el paso to address border security. >> this sliver of land is the ground zero. this is the frontlines and this is where we are maki stand to reduce illegal immigration in america. >> what is very frustrating to me is w decisions that are made very far away from here, in washingto by people who sometimes haven't even been here, they're making disions about the places that we live in. ea we've seen an in of border wall construction. it's a monument that says those who are on the otherof, of this wall are not welcomed. but the reality is that border communities are very welcoming. juárez and el paso are sister cities. sides of the border.ily on both many can cross back and forth to come to school, to go to work.

for us, this is... this is a great place, this is a great place to live.th >> sel paso has also been a place that has been used as a policy testing ground. >> el paso is used in order to beta-test policies that get scaled up and used in other parts of the country. the first place whe borderwas was hardened and militarized, going all the way back to that time in the '90s. so whether it's thwall, whether it's practices in the court, or whether it's conditions in detention, here in el paso, we unfortunately have been a laboratory for immigration enforcement here on the border. s th: the first policy tested under president trump calling for a general crackdown on immigration. >>ahe united states of amer gets back control of its borders. gets back its borders. (cheers and applause)

>> smith: spurred by the president, el paso border patrol began to criminally prosecute families who crossed through their sector. parents were charged with illegal entry and detained. >> suddenly, families coming and claiming asylum were being for the first timeted for that >> man (in spanish): >> smith: but since children, under law, could not be locked up with eir parents, they would be separated and sent to separate facilities. this was the beginning of zero tolerance. >> 10-4, stand by. >> it was a local initiative. the leadership in cbp in the field and the u.s. attorney's office were having discussions based or thrities being outlined in the executive order. e thatey decided to capability, and it was essentially their own zero tolerance initiative. >> smith: public defender sergio garcia suddenly had five separation cases.

>> i thought it was just a fluke. i was expecting to have long criminal history in ese parents. i was expecting to find some evidence of maybe child trafficking or something, but instead, i found nothing. found clean records, no prior removals theyad never been here in this country, and they were being separated. >> smith: in washington, at thet departmef homeland security's civil rights division, they were blindsided. scott shuchart wou eventually leave the department in protest. was your office consulted abou this policy of family separation? >> no. we got told that there was no such pilot. r we got t-around. cbp still wouldn't confirm to my office that there was any such thin >> smith: a high-ranking officer with el paso's border patrol union, wesley farris, told us he objected to thinitiative. >> i had to separate children p from theents.

that was the most horrible thing i've ever done. you can't help but see your own kids. >> smith: well, put us there when, when you had to do that. >> the last one i did, it was a young boy.in i he was about t. it's just, the world was upside down to that kid. soohen the contractor tried take him away, he reached for me, and he climbed up on me again, and he was holding on to so that, that one got me a little bit. that was tough. i said at that one, "i'm not a doing thmore. i won't do it." i went back to the supervisor and i told him, "don't assign me to do that anymore." >> smith: did you complain up the chain? >> well, i wanted to. i mean, none of us were happy about it. but everybody around me was just doing exactly what... we all wertold to do this. >> i have put in place a zero tolerance policy... >> smith: then, in may 2018, child separation program ended, to scale up the programn decided nationally. >> at least 600 immigrant children were removed from their parents last month.

>> news coming in just now that so far, the government has separated 2,000 kids from their parents. il when a stranger rips a from a parent's arms without any plan to reunify them, it is caed kidnapping. >> lawmakers in both parties condemning it as cruel. >> smith: responding to fierce criticism, president trump wld sometimes defend his policy. >> if we took zero tolerance away, you would be overrun. >> smith: other times, he would sidestep the controv and blame it all on democrats. ag >> do yoe with children being taken away from... >> no, i hate it. >> at the border?il >> i hate the en being taken away. the democrats have to change their law. that's their law. >> smith: but ultimately, the policy backfired. >> set them free! set them free! >> smith: after protests nationwide, he reversed course. >> we're signing an executiv der. it's about keeping families together. h anybody withrt would feel 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.is akes care of the problem thank you very much, everybody. thank you. >> a migrant caravan heading from central arica to the u.s. border right now. >> it's a mass of about 1,000 people. >> smith: starting in october 2018, migrants joined together in a human caravan and headed tc the u.s.-mexborder. >> the largest caravan reportedly made up of more than 4,000 people... smith: later, president trump claimed the surge in migrants was a direct result of e.nceling of zero toleranc >> people are coming across the border in droves to get into the system, because they know that in the aggregate, together, they overwhelm the system and will then be released. that is a threat to our enref stemw and border security. >> the caravan grows to an estimated 7,200. >> we are sending a simple message to the lless caravans marching toward our border.

turn back now. go back home. we will not let you in. >> smith: human smugglso saw in trump's rhetoric an opportunity. >> every time president trump said, "we'rehutting down the border, the country is full, we're not allowing anyone in," that provided wonderful marketing for the coyotes to say, "you better come now. this is your last chance." >> smith: the president says the country is full. we can't take any more people a in, that thererisis at the border. >> the president doesn't care about thlaw. our laws allow people to come and seek asylum. >> smith: the right ofefugees to apply for asylum has been protected by a u.s. statute for decades.s >> the statutery clear. any alien-- regardless of how they got here-- they are entitled to seek asylum protections. not entitled to asylum, but they're entitled to go through the process that has been in

place. >> it's pretty clear that most ti them don'meet the traditional defi of asylum seekers. most of them at root are trying to make lives better for theirmi faes. the challenge in central america in particular becomes that you have all of these issues of violence, and government impunity, and corruption, and gangs, and climate change that are all coming together that yop can't justate from poverty. (people shouti in distance) >> smith: in el paso, authorities prepared for the possibility of a caravan by running drills. when the mrants kept coming, trump declared a national emergency. >> we're going to be signing a national emergency. get rid of drugs, and gas, and people. it's an invasion. we have an invion of drugs and criminals coming into our country. >> yes, it is real, yes, it is

in our backyard. somebody call border patrol! >> man (in spanish): >> smith: one vigilante group, the united constitutional patriots, heeded the call to fortify the border and began to rslive-stream their encoun with migrants. >> holy cow, you guys, they're stl coming. >> smith: in this video, hundreds of migrants can be seen crossing near monumean historic marker next to el paso. >> an open border at monument 1. invasion, guys. gotta build the wall. goa back trump up. we gotta stop this asylum fraud. >> sit down! all the wa >> this tends to flare up as rhetoric about the border heats up and there's concern about largnumbers of people coming across, and of course we've heard, you know, the word a "invasio... >> smith: you've seen direct linkage between the rhetoric heating up in washington and on the news programs, and the emergence of these militias? he >> well,ilitia members will tell you that themselves. the're here because our president told we need

to defend the border." (man shouting in spanish) >> smith: this video was shot by anthony aguero, who oftenea patrolled the ith the united constitutional patriots. : >> (in spani >> smithhe posted it on facebook. >> look at this woman! (in spanish): >> smith: the video was viewed e over 160,000 times beforhele ted it.ca >> you guys thank beto o'rourke, veronica escobar, for this crap. all of you watching, y'a just became baby day to all these mother (bleep) here. come out like roaches, out of everywhere. >> we wouldn't be here if this wasn't a national emergency. if the country wasn't really being invaded, there would bno reason for us to be here. smith: jim benvie was the spokesperson for the united constitutional patriots.

stopping migration, that's your goal, right? >> what my goal is is to document the crisis in hopes that the people will wake up and put their politics to the side. whether you're left or right, the country's being invaded. whether u want to call me racist, or whatever you want to call me, doesn't matter. this country is being invade >> smith: later, benvie inviteda us out ool. >> yeah, they're comg in. yeah, let's go, we got actn again. you guys see what's going on here no border patrol. is is just us. anybody speak english? (man shouting) >> you're talking about people who aren't trying to evade anything. they want to be taken in to custody. and they're going to sit there and wait for the border patrol to come whether there's a militia there or not. >> more people crossing. obviously, these people aren't listening. we've got a group sitting down over here cooperating.

>> the truth is that althoughat borderl said, "we don't need the help, we don't encourage this kinof thing," border patrol agents on theou have long worked in partnership with these militia organizations. so there's this wink and nod agreement between the mitias and the border patrol th allows for this operation to go on. >> a bunch crossed the river right h er there. >>we saw them. >> sth: border prol says they do not endorse or condone private groups taking mattersto inheir own hands, but they welcomassistance from the mmunity. >> they ne the resources to solve the problem as it is currently. s e frontline is where thirk gets done. you know, imagine coming to work every day and you have thousand people that are waiting for you to book them into th procedure. that's a difficult situation for our folks to be in. u and it'sortunate that it's not fixed. >> smith: by may 2019, theat

sin had reached a breaking point. in the first five months of 2019, el paso's border patrol had apprehended over 11100 migrants, an 800% increase over the previous year. they were now seeing an unprecedented number of in the past, they alt mostly with single adult males. >> mexican males, mainly, th logistics of dealing with that are different than they are of dealing with small children or entire family units altogether. (people talking in background) to put context into that, our facilities have never been and so we still hamaller falities, and all of a sudden, we were just at manumbers. (officers speaking spanish) >> i have 15. >> smith: inside el paso's holding facilities, there was now no space. i s numbers like these that

had their facilities bursting at the seam, and they say el paso is seeing the worst of it. >> recent inspections found 900 grants housed in spaces that were only supposed to hold 125. >> smith: one 19-year-old guatemal, sebastian, who crossed into el paso with his siblings, described the conditions inside. >> (in spanish):

50 it was not uncommon, for a cell designed foeople, for there to be 100, 200, 300 people in there. >> smith: so how do they sleep? >> any way they can, rlly. if they were going to stand up,y ould all kind of have to collectively stand up together. if they were going to lay down,v they would allto kind of collectively lay down together. it's not a comfortable situation. th >> sadvocates say the conditions were made worse by trump's push to end a long- standing policy of releasing migrants pding their court dates. >> you will not be released into our country. as long as i am president of the united states, we will enforce our laws and protect our borders. (talking in background) >> now there are hundreds of people being kept inhain-link wait., and they're just made to they don't have access to hygiene. it smells, it stinks.

(gl crying) the way that we treat asylum seekers is horrific, and it is absolutely purposefully supposed to be that way, because thewo e that we treat people in detention, the more likely they are to give up their case. >> smith: with border patrolti facili over capacity, el paso sector chief aaron hull started holding new arrivals for days at a time under a bridge right in the center of town. >> i discovered that situation because i just wanted to take a walk. i mean, it was a sunday. all of a sudden, like, i looked under the bridge, and i saw about 30 people, and they were clrly refugees. i mean, there was a bunch ofan kids, d... i'm, like, "what are theseoi people under here?" >> smith: two weeks later, nathan returned to the same spot. >> i'm, like, really shocked, because now, instead of 30r 50 people, there's, like, hundreds of people, and, and they wered

cram against each other. therwere so many of them. you know, it was very disturbing. but i think the border patrol was eager for the press to see it-- it wajust... >> smith: why would they be eager to have the press see that? >> just beuse i think they were doing tir "we're in a hugerisis" thing. you kn, "we're picking up all these people now, and we don't know what to do with them. thiss a crisis." >> smith: chief hull would not speak with us, but farris told us that hull believed the nditions would deter people from coming again. >> hull and the manager below him thought, "weon't want to entice more peopleo come. we don't want to, um... ke it nice. we don't want to make it easy for them." >> smith: but that ends up repunishing women with chi.. >> everybody. >> smith: families. >> right. >> smith: putting those people in that situation is pretty heartless. >> right. mcaleenan, came toso tobp, kevin

see the chaos at the bridge firsthand. >> cbp is facing an unprecedented hunitarian and border security crisis all along our southwest border, and nowhere has that crisis manifested more acutely than here in el paso. (baby crying) >> smith: border patrol has seen more families coming since 2014. yet, advocates say, cbp has fail to adequately handle the situation despite having moreesources. >> from about 2000 to 2006, border patrol was apprehending over million people. in those years, the border patrol had half of the number of agents they have now and way less money. so it is very rd for me to believe that with a double of the number of agts a budget, they cannot humanely, quickly process the number of milies that are arriving to our border and that are turning themselves in.

(talking over radio) >> smith: to alleviate the overcrowding, the departnt of homeland security decided to itest another new programn el paso. they called it migrant protection protocols. it is better known as remain in mexico. >> a big change is coming for asylum seekers: the government is sending them back to mexico. >> what the remain in mexico policy does is, it forces asylum seekers to remain on the other side of the border while they make their asylum claims. (man speaking spanish) many migrants go to ciudad juárez, our sister city on the other side of the bo. folks ow ciudad juárez becse it's been a place where there's been major drug trafficking, trafficking of immigrants, extortion, robbery, assault. so remain in mexico is creating basically a long-term population

of asylum seekers in a city thal makes themrable targets. >> across the border a man was attacked and killed by dozens of gunshots in northeast juárez. another triple murd, it happened last night on the pan-american highway, just outside of juárez. >> smith: in juárez, we met sebastian again, that young man who had spent eight days in ande overcrowded ntion holding cell. he had been separated from his mexico.s and sent back here to >> sebastian: >> woman (in spanish): >> sebastian:

(voice breaking) (sniffles) >> smith: thousands of migrants end up strandein juárez awaiting their court date. a number of people have criticized remain in mico for essentlly placing those that are seekingsylum back into mexico, facing dangers. >> i don't deny that there are pas of mexico that are dangerous, but the families are not contained there, nor are th. oblated to stay there >> smith: but these are not to go to cancun while they waitl for their hearing in el paso. >> they do not have to stay in the dangerous area you describe, is the simple point. and you don't have to go to cancun to be safe in mexico. >> smith: one of the safest

places for migrants is casa l migrante, the largest migrant shelter in juárez. it's run by the catholic crch and was at capacity even before the remain in mexico program began. in the courtyard, i spoke to sayda. she was five months pregnant. (in spanish): >> sayda: >> smith: >> si, de guemala. >> smith: >> sayda: (crying) (weeping softly) >> smith: >> sayda:

♪ >> smith: on the day we visited, an immigration advocate counseled sayda and other pregnant women who had met each other in the so-called hleras, or iceboxes, whereorder patrol officers hold androcess recent arrivals. >> sayda: >> linda rivas: >> sayda: >> rivas: >> sayda: >> rivas:

>> woman: >> rivas: >> smith: how many are going to get attorneys? >> very, very few. i see a huge impediment to due process. attorneydon't want to go down there, attorneys are unsure if they're able to legally work there. as a matr of fact, not one attorney that we know and trust ha.agreed to take those cas >> smith: it's certainly not a denial of theidue process right. you have a right to have access to a lawyer. but you reje the claim that the mpp program has made it difficult for the immigrants tor receive adequaresentation. >> i understand that the ngo lawyers w have to go into mexico or call. i mean, a phone ll will work, too, but there's no denial of access to lawyers.

>> smith: of the 57,000 migrants assigned to the remain in mexico program, only an estimated four percent have obtained attorneys. >> rivas: >> smith: many have given up their asylum claims and returned home. the government would say mpp has rked. physically from one side of the border to the other. it hasn't addressed any problems. it's created new problems. >> smith: but they would say it's been an effective >> they might say but what they mn is, "out of sight, out of mind." ♪ (helicopter hoveng) (siren blaring) >> smith: in el paso, the crisis was far from over. things would erupt in the summer of 20 at a

facility on the outskirts of town. it was clint, a small border paol detention center that used to house adult males, but were not deemed children who eligible for the remain in mexico program. you've worked at clint. >> yes. >> smith: clint has earned a very negative reputation. >> right. when clint was designated as the holding facility for unaccompanied children, there was no mass training giveno the agents there to verse them on our policy. it was thrust upon t somebody just arbitrarily decided, "let's make clint station." wion that decision, that sta embarked on a horrible journey. court ruling callefloresederal settlement, detention facilities holding migrant children are to be regularly monitored to ensure that children are getting appropriate re. >> we didn't initialnow that children were being detaed

there. and then we received information that there were children bng held at clint, and so we added it to our list of sites to visit. >> smith: on the morning of june 17, 2019, 11 monitors showed up at the clint facility, where over 350 children we being held. >> we later learned that weeks earlier, there had been hundreds more, actually, detained in that same facility. it only had pacity for a bit over 100. >> we demanded a tour oflint and visits with the sickest children in custody who were in quarantine. we were denied both. >> smith: instead, the monitors met with the children in a reries of conference rooms. >> the children earing clothing that was covered in nasal mucus, in vomit. there was a strong stenc they weren't given an opportunity to shower for days,

sometimes weeks, sometimes not at all since crossing the. bo >> i mean, it was obvious that there was infectious disease anu not engh hygiene to addressis tranon of disease. and it just felt like an emergent situation, and we just decided, "we have to go public about this." >> smith: two children had already died in el paso border concerned others cld die at clint, the monitors took their story to the media. facility, we are seeing sicker children, we are seeing dirty children. we are seeing hungry children. m 're seeing children who have been separated feir parents and other family members. we really have a dire situation here. >> outbreaks of scabies,ch shingles, anken pox were spreading among the hundreds of children.s >> toddlerlking inside cells. this is basically a jail set-up, and it's jarring. >> well, i would dispute that a the conditio so bad. patrol chief repeatedly said that the facility had passed inspection. >> we're not keeping people in

inhumane conditions. as i said, we are inspected consntly. >> smith: president trump said it was all fake news. >> i think that the border patrol was treated very, very badly. and they are run beautiful.ces, they're clean, they're good. >> smith: president trump had >> shut it down!t. >> shut it down! >> shut it down! >> (all chanting): shut it down! >> the truth of the matter is, a clinymbol for the whole border patrol right now. i would say that we were at the peak of our unreadiness for whan was hag. (crowd chanting) most of us are fathers, mothers. we all knew that this isn't how u should hold kids. we just didn't have any choice. >> and shame on us as a country. no child should wake up a cage. i've met the mothers of children who have died in the custody of border patrol. it's not just another strategy

like remain in mexico, like zero tolerance, like family separation. it's saying, "you are not we're going to treat you like this and you're going to remember it, and you're going to tell your relates back home." (gavel pounding) >> the committee will come to order. >> smith: three-and-a-half weeks after their initial visit to clint, the flores monitors brout their findings before the house oversight committee. >> tnk y, chairman cummings, ranking member jordan, and distinguished members of the committee, for having meere today. i was at the clint cbp facility last month. i want to share with you what i heard, what i saw, and what i smelled. children were hungry. children were traumatized. one six-year-old girl, detained all alone, could only say, "i'm scared, i'm scared, i'm scared,d

overver again. it was tense. i was making explosive allegations about the abject failure of our federal governme to take care of babies. ...a newborn detained for seven days. and the administration already come out by that point to say that our findings, our allegations, were "unsubstantiated." >> fabcating stories of cruelty and besmirching the hardworkincivil servants who are protecting the border does nothing to hp solve the problem. >> not only am i lyi, but all my colleagues are lying, and that the hundreds of pages of sworn testimony from children false.nsubstantiated," are >> smith: in depositions, the children described overcrowded cells. several said they had to sleep on cement floors. they were hungry and were denied basic hygiene.

>> the holding facilities areow overd. there are not enough showers. this should be no surprise to anyone. >> smith: at the hearing, tom homan, the former acting rector of ice and for years a border patrol agent himself, said that border patrol leadership had been warning congress about overcrowding fort . >> ...that this system is overwhelmed. people can be moved quickly to a more appropriate facility >> smi: but, he said, the repos were overblown. >> most of these allegationsto have been foune untrue after extensive investigation, but it's too late when that happens. >> smith: and morale among border patrol agents, he said, was at an all-time low. >> they have to wakep every day and see news reports and comments from representatives in congresshat they're nazis, ite supremacists, that they operate concentration camps,gl that they knowabuse women and children. >> putting cbp agents in a position where they are required to take care of chilwo years old and younger isn't fair to them. these agents deserve better.ut >>he trump administration is trying to cover up among the

worst human rights abuses that are taking place in the united r statht now. >> m homan, do you understand that the consequences of separation of many children will be lifelong trauma and carried across generations? do you not care? is it because these children don't look like chilen that are around you? oudon't get it. >> first of all,comments are disgusting. i've served my country-- i've served my untry... >> i find your comments... >> ...34 years. >> i find your comments disgustingas well. >> this is out of control. what i've been trying to do in my 34 years serving my nation is to save lives. so for you to sit there andy insulttegrity and my love for children, that's why this whe thing eds to be fixed. >> we agree on that. >> and you're the member of congress. x it! (r ster crowing) >> dariana (in spanish):

>> woman (in spanish): >> dariana (speaking spanish) >> smith: last november, we traveled to honduras to interview one nine-year-old girl who had been separated from her father after crossing into el paso. her name is dariana. (children speaking spanish) aftecrossing, her father elder was arrested and charged with illegal re-entry.an daria was then labeled as an unaccompanied minor, separated, d sent to clint. hais is the first time a child held inside clinbeen known to speak to the media about conditions there. dariana told us that she was r ld for 11 days in a detention block with 5otds. : >> daria

>> woman: >> dariana: >> smith: after clint, dariana was transferred to a facility in new york city call cayuga, overseen by the department of health and human services. she said there, she was treated better. >>ariana: >> smith: after three months in bcayuga, dariana appearedore a judge in new york city and asked to be sent back to h family. >> dariana:

>> woman: >> dariana: mm >> (ing dog) >> smith: her father said taking her on their journey. for >> elder: >> a border patrol station ins clint, texas, come a major political talking point in washington. democratic lawmakers are now demanding something be.. >> smith: amid the controversy at clint, chief aaron hull was reassigned to a border patrol station in detroit.

>> late today, the house passed a hotly debated bill to ease the crisis at the border. >> smith: congress finally approved a $4.6 billion emergency border spending package. some of it went to improve detention facilies in el paso. what do you think our obligation is to housing and sheltering those who come knocking on our door? itself on continuing to be the most generous country in the world. but the question is, where do you draw the line? ita not generosity to accep break-in. and we have a million-person break-in over the last fiscal year in, on the southern border. if you don't have a border, u don't have sovereignty or a nation, and we're, we're rifighting to maintain that now. >> smith: the fact that people are comi across in these great numbers frightens many americans, and there are many americans who feel this is a

president who is actually doing something about it. a >> i wou them, what exactly is he doing? nothing that he has done has stemmed the flow of this exos from central america. ne everything he's as made the situation worse. >> in thwake of the shooting in a walmart in texas, president trump will visit the community of el paso odnesday. wo>> smith: the president d return to el paso one last time. it was four days after the attack at walmart.ou >> he not come here while we are in mourning. this is the site of one of his rallies. statistically, vionce went up, hate crimes went up in communits where he had held rallies. (crowd chanting "u.s.a.") >> smith: near a hospital where victims were being treated trump supporters clashed with demonstrators. >> (shouting) (crowd chanting "trump 2020")

>> smith: as president trump left the city, he invited el paso's mayor, dee margo, to drive back with him to the airport. the mayor used the opportunity p ss him on immigration reform. >> so on the way over there, h brought up the wall and the fence, and i said, "yes, cbp says there is a place for a physical barrier, but it's not a panacea and the whole thing." not want to discuss alternatives to a wall. he insulted the mayor, calling him a "repubcan in name only"-- a rino. >> he said, "y're a rino." i said, "no, sir. i'm not a rino." >> smith: what did he say?ju >> h kind of grinned. >> smith: he didn't really care? >> no, he understood. no, i think the grin"okay, i understand what you're saying," you know. i'm not into drama.os myion is, i'd rather light a candle than curse the darkness. so i'll do the best i can and try and convey who we are and whate're about.

the benefit of our, our culture, our binational culture. so that's the best i can do. ♪ >> this country goesnto 2020 as divided as it'ever been. >> narrator: from frontline'sg award-winninpolitical team-- a two-night special series. years of reporting-- investigating the conflicts and crossing the divide. >> ...people were angry... >> ...outrage machine... >> ...are they going to start storming the gates? >> narrator: the ec story of how we got here... >> today there's just a lack of respec p >> go .org/frontline for a look at how the border patr is struggling to fill i ranks and keep the agents it has... >> they have towaer up day and see news reports that they're nazis,

white supremists, that they operate concentration camps. >> i had to separate children from their parents. that was the most horrible thing i've ever done. fallout from trump's immigration policies. connect to the frontline community on facebook and twitter, and watch anytime on the pbs video app or pbs.org/frontline. >>byrontline is made possibl 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, committed to building a more jus verdant and peaceful world. and by the ford foundation:is working withnaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide.po additional s is provided by the abrams foundation, committed to excellence injo nalism. the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness ofritical issues. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. the heising-simons foundation:

unlocking knledge, opportunity, and possibilities. and by the frontline jonalism with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. and ditional support from chris and lisa kaneb. captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> for more on this and other "frontline" programs, visit our website at pbs.org/froline. ♪ frontline's, "targeting el paso" is available on amazon prime video.

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big brother is watching... -it's a fact of life. ...looking for crime. ♪ but what might be a crime in some countries is just everyday liberty in america. -as bad as some of us think things are... americans live in a freer society than most other human beings. -we do terrie things in asometimes,iety but we have a system that allows correction. -the framers set out to create a more perfect union, and succeeding generations have made the constitution more inclusive. -i voted. -i voted.