luis: ♪ (speaking kaqchikel): (speaking spanish): margie (speaking spanish): ♪ luis (speaking spanish):

♪ ♪ (car horns honking) ♪ ♪

(phone beeps) (phone ringing) (child chattering) luis and maria (speaking kaqchikel):

♪ ♪ (keyboard clicking) ♪

♪ ♪ carlos valenzuela: i've tried calling luis several times this morning. i was able to get in touch with him once, but he was scared and he hung up the phone. his court date was scheduled for today at 8:30.

the judge that luis has is particularly tough, also. and she does have the authority to issue a removal order. i'm going to try calling him one more time, see if he answers, by any luck, and try to get him to come in. ♪ ♪ ♪ (speaking spanish):

♪ maria (speaking kaqchikel):

judy: each one of these is a new case. actually, i have them here because i haven't been able to review them, you know?

this one... i know this is a final order of removal already. you know what i mean? so once it gets here, we review the case for viability, right? so even though we really don't have any priorities in order, the way we used to have a few years ago, we do try to prioritize here within ourselves. and the most important thing for us is to prioritize according to criminality. that's the way i like to run my team. what somebody does in, like, you know, the middle of montana, fugitive operations, you know, it may be different. maybe they have a different mentality. i try to do the best job that i can do as an officer. i definitely think i have, you know, my own moral code.

♪ ♪ ♪ (speaking spanish) ♪ (speaking spanish)

♪ maria:

♪ ♪ ♪ (boat horn blares) luis:

woman and luis (speaking spanish): - no. - okay. okay. luis: maria:

♪ (keyboard clicking) ♪ luis:

♪ ♪ ♪ chino (speaking spanish): ♪ luis:

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ judy: i bet you nothing is going to work right.

- i think johnny was having trouble with it earlier, too. - oh yeah? - yeah, 'cause he doesn't remember how we had everything plugged in, that's the problem. - that's what happens. judy: danny is not the typical youngster, i don't think. you know, he's a great kid. i have him working since he got his working papers when he was 14. now he's, you know, going to be 23 years old and an adult and we're working in the same office. i never would have imagined it. like me being in the position i'm in is kind of like a really good starting point because i'm seeing everything without actually, like, being out there and doing it. if he gets to, you know, if he gets the officer job and go to the academy and come back, i mean, we actually probably could possibly be out in the field together. that's... weird, very, very weird to me, you know. i mean, it's actually still weird to me, like, i'll, sometimes i'll be sitting here and he'll come in and ask me a question and i think about it. i'm like, wow, i can't believe, you know... i thought he was gonna just, you know, continue on his little running spree

and maybe do some kind of... sports-oriented type of, you know, employment. but this is stability. and, you know, i guess that's what's the most important, you know, so... ♪ in this day and age, it's difficult finding a job that's stable and that has benefits. so, for danny to be able to get in here and to be able to establish himself and have that stability is really, really important. it's been important for me and i've tried to instill that in him as well. ♪ you know, it's hard living in new york. just, it's so expensive. and sometimes you feel like all you do is work and... work and pay bills, work and pay bills. you know, as i get a little older, i think to myself, let me move somewhere else, you know, where it's a little better cost of living or whatever. good. but,you know, what holds me down is my family.

i'm a single mother, i have one son who's like the world to me, my parents, and my 109-year-old grandmother. ♪ for me, they're so important. i can't imagine leaving them. ♪ (birds chirping) (groaning) (speaking kaqchikel): maria:

(groans) (overlapping chatter) (crying) (praying in kaqchikel):

♪ luis: ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

(commotion in distance) (fireworks popping) ♪ ♪ (fireworks crackling) ♪ ♪ ♪

(fireworks exploding) ♪ luis: ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ me, i come here america, so i help my family, you know? i like to cook, i like cut. i like everything, no? thank you, that's it. (laughs) ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ del toro: stay up-to-date on america reframed at worldchannel.org. subscribe to world channel's youtube to go beyond the lens with our filmmakers.

tell us what you think using #americareframed. america reframed was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, wyncote foundation, the national endowment for the arts, park foundation, and the reva and david logan foundation.