Reports on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border | 60 Minutes Full Episodes

Summary

Highlights

• Alejandro Mayorkas defends his stance on the border situation, refusing to call it a crisis while noting its significant challenges 🤔.
• Border Patrol's record-high apprehensions spotlight the extent of migrant crossings and the strain on resources 📈.
• The Biden administration's policies, such as halting the border wall, are scrutinized amidst high crossing numbers 🚧.
• Tragic personal stories, like that of a father and daughter drowning in the Rio Grande, underscore the human cost of current immigration policies 😢.
• Sanctuary cities and places of worship offer shelter to those facing deportation, reflecting the nation's divided stance on immigration 🏠.

Key Takeaways

• Alejandro Mayorkas, the first immigrant to lead DHS, faces impeachment threats but remains focused on his mission 🇺🇸.
• U.S.-Mexico border sees record-high migrant crossings, with significant challenges acknowledged but not labeled as a crisis 🚶‍♂️.
• Some migrants face long waits and risks trying to enter the U.S., highlighting flaws in the Asylum process ⏳.
• Desperate stories of families risking everything to seek asylum include tragic losses like drowning in the Rio Grande 🌊.
• Complex immigration policies are in place, but a call for reform is echoed throughout the episode ⚖️.

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview: Alejandro Mayorcas' Background Alejandro Mayorcas and his family fled Cuba as refugees when he was less than a year old. Today, he serves as the head of the US Department of Homeland Security, marking the first time an immigrant has held this position. His role includes managing a wide range of responsibilities.
• 00:31 - 01:30: Responsibilities and Controversies The chapter focuses on the responsibilities and controversies surrounding Secretary Mayorkas, particularly in his roles related to terrorism, cyber security, and overseeing the Coast Guard and Secret Service. However, a significant point of contention is his handling of the large number of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, which has led to protests from migrant advocates and calls for impeachment from Republicans. In this chapter, Secretary Mayorkas addresses the efforts to remove him from office and explains his reasoning for not labeling the situation at the southern border as a crisis.
• 01:31 - 02:30: The Situation at the US-Mexico Border The chapter details the situation at the US-Mexico border, focusing on the busy early morning illegal crossings. The events unfold near El Paso, Texas, where the narrator accompanies the US Border Patrol. The chapter highlights a record high of over 2 million apprehensions reported by the Border Patrol in the past year, illustrating the scale of the immigration issue. Some migrants are depicted as surrendering themselves to border agents, showcasing the complexity of the border situation.
• 02:31 - 03:30: Challenges Faced by Secretary Mayorcas The chapter titled 'Challenges Faced by Secretary Mayorcas' discusses the significant challenge of illegal immigration into the United States. It highlights the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) estimation that 600,000 people have evaded agents to enter the US illegally, marking the highest number in over a decade. This situation prompted Secretary Mayorcas's testimony before Congress, where he maintained that the border is secure despite the ongoing issues. The chapter illustrates the complex dynamics of border security and the pressures faced by Secretary Mayorcas in his role.
• 03:31 - 04:30: Border Wall and Immigration Reforms The chapter titled 'Border Wall and Immigration Reforms' addresses the current turmoil at the southern border of the United States. There is an extraordinary influx of people arriving, which reflects broader migratory movements occurring throughout the hemisphere and the world. The chief of the border patrol, Ra Ortiz, testified before Congress emphasizing that certain areas of the border are indeed in a crisis. This suggests a need to explore and possibly reform border policies and immigration systems to manage the situation effectively.
• 04:31 - 05:30: Increased Flow of Migrants and Title 42 The speaker acknowledges the serious challenges faced at certain parts of the border due to an increased flow of migrants, refraining from labeling it as a crisis. They express confidence in the Department of Homeland Security's ability to handle the situation. The term 'crisis' is avoided as it suggests a retreat from their mission, whereas the focus is on reinforcing efforts to manage the situation.
• 05:31 - 06:30: Effects on Cities and Asylum System The chapter discusses the scrutiny and criticism faced by Secretary Mayorkas, particularly from Republicans. They hold him accountable for the increased illegal immigration under his watch, which they claim has led to various negative consequences, including drug-related deaths and the exploitation of migrant children. The Republicans accuse him of allowing dangerous individuals, such as murderers, into the country. Secretary Mayorkas appears on Capitol Hill, facing tough questions and accusations about the impact of his border policies on American cities and the asylum system.
• 06:31 - 07:30: Deportations and Personal Stories The chapter discusses the heated political climate within Congress, as characterized by contentious immigration debates and personal attacks on political figures. Amidst calls for impeachment and comparisons to historical traitor Benedict Arnold, a senator dismisses these accusations and rhetoric, choosing instead to remain focused on their mission related to immigration reform and addressing the fentanyl crisis.
• 07:31 - 08:30: Legal and Ethical Dimensions of Sanctuary Cities This chapter covers the legal and ethical considerations surrounding sanctuary cities in the context of U.S. politics. It features a statement from a public service official who expresses a strong commitment to their role and dismisses calls for resignation, emphasizing the honor of being in public service. The discussion also touches on immigration issues, specifically the border situation, highlighting interactions with President Biden. The official rebuffs claims that the president is avoiding border discussions, describing such notions as political rhetoric. They recount being with the president during a border visit and having had multiple conversations on the topic, suggesting an ongoing engagement of the administration with border issues.
• 08:31 - 09:30: Historical Context and Current Policies The chapter discusses the ongoing issues at the southern border of the United States, highlighting that these problems did not begin with the current Biden Administration, nor are they likely to end with it. The lack of major immigration reform by Congress for almost 30 years is noted as a significant factor contributing to the situation. The chapter also mentions Secretary Mayorkas's request for additional resources from Congress to address the challenges at the southern border. It is noteworthy that this year marks the first time since 2011 that resources have been added to the efforts at the border.
• 09:31 - 10:30: Concluding Remarks on Immigration Policies The chapter discusses the U.S. immigration policies concerning border security and resource allocation for the fiscal year 2024. It highlights the budget provisions for increasing border patrol personnel, with plans to add 350 more agents, and technological investments exceeding $100 million. However, the chapter makes it clear that constructing more border walls, which are costly, is not part of the administration's strategy, as emphasized by the president.

Reports on immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border | 60 Minutes Full Episodes Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 when he was less than a year old Alejandro mayorcas and his family came to the United States as refugees fleeing Fidel Castro's regime in Cuba today he's the first immigrant to head the US Department of Homeland Security his portfolio includes everything from count
• 00:30 - 01:00 terrorism and cyber security to overseeing the Coast Guard and secret service but it's what he's done or not done about the large number of migrants crossing the US border with Mexico that's prompted protests by migrant Advocates and fiery attacks by Republicans who want to impeach him tonight you will hear from secretary mayorcas about the efforts to push him out of office and why he refuses to call the situation on the southern border a crisis
• 01:00 - 01:30 early morning is often the busiest time for illegal Crossings along the US Mexico border the day we went out with the US border patrol near El Paso Texas was no exception they're headed towards the carousel before meeting the cabinet secretary in charge of securing the borders we got a view from the field the border patrol reported over 2 million apprehensions in the past year a record high some migrants surrendered themselves to border agents with the
• 01:30 - 02:00 intention of seeking Asylum but the DHS estimates another 600,000 people evaded agents and entered the US illegally the highest number in over a decade which is why secretary my oris's testimony before Congress last fall raised a few eyebrows secretary my orcus do you continue to maintain that the border is secure yes and we are working day in and day out to enhance its security Congressman what the American people
• 02:00 - 02:30 is a border that looks to be chaotic that looks to be porous well let's I mean the number of people that are arriving at our border um is at an extraordinary height there is no question about that but that is not unique to the southern border of the United States there is a tremendous amount of movement throughout the hemisphere and in fact throughout the world the chief of the border patrol ra Ortiz testified before Congress that some areas of the Border are in a crisis
• 02:30 - 03:00 situation do you agree I think that we Face a very serious challenge in certain parts of the Border do you view what's happening right now in the Border as a crisis I view it as a significant challenge why won't you say the word crisis you know what because I have tremendous faith in the people of the Department of Homeland Security and a crisis uh speaks to me uh of a withdrawal uh from our mission and we are only putting more Force foring more
• 03:00 - 03:30 energy into it good morning secretary my orcus a lot of force and energy is now being directed at secretary my orcus on Capital Hill when you open up the border to the worst illegal immigration in our nation's history people die this past week Republicans took aim at the secretary blaming him personally for the drug deaths of Americans the rape of Migrant children and more how many murderers Have You released into America senator I'm not aware of any murder whom
• 03:30 - 04:00 we've the into Senator let me say something if you do you know if you take a look at no no you you don't get to give a speech Congress seems to be more interested in impeaching you than passing immigration reform one member of Congress said he'd like to arrest you for negligent homicide for the deaths of young people from fentanyl another compared you to Benedict Arnold I disregard um that type of rhetoric um I'm focused on the mission do you think they're just trying to get you to resign
• 04:00 - 04:30 I'm not going to uh resign I love Public Service I think it's a an incredible um honor to be a part of it how often do you and President Biden discuss the situation at the border there's a perception that the president doesn't want to talk about the Border that's a false uh impression uh that I I consider to be also political uh rhetoric I was uh with the president when he visited uh the Border I've spoken multiple times
• 04:30 - 05:00 with the president I of course speak uh with the White House team on a regular basis and with my colleagues in the cabinet absolutely the problems at the border didn't start with the Biden Administration and likely won't end with it Congress hasn't passed major immigration reform in nearly three decades secretary my orcus is asking Congress for additional resources on the southern border this is the first year since 2011 that we have added to the
• 05:00 - 05:30 boorder of Patrol 300 more agents the the fiscal year 2024 budget calls for 350 more border patrol agents more than $100 million in technological Investments is there anything that's off the table that you won't do to secure the Border well the president uh as I think you know very well said we are not going to uh construct more wall that um cost billions and billions of dollars
• 05:30 - 06:00 that is immovable and that is already beginning to corrode secretary myor has joined the Biden Administration with a resume seemingly well suited for the job he'd been the top federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and deputy director of Homeland Security under President Obama he was also a refugee whose Romanian mother and Cuban father fled Cuba when he was an infant I understand deeply the yearning of parents to give their
• 06:00 - 06:30 children opportunities that America offers we are a nation of laws if people qualify under the law then we embrace them if they don't then we return them the first weeks in office the Biden Administration halted deportations for 100 days stopped all border wall construction and suspended the remain in Mexico policy critics say it all added up to putting a come in we're open S on the door I don't think that the more
• 06:30 - 07:00 than million people last year that we removed or expelled would consider the Border open but the messaging was the messaging wrong there that you know we're open that wasn't our messaging but that was the but that's migrants were getting because remember something that we are not the only source of messages that the migrants receive we have smuggling organizations that exploit the migrant
• 07:00 - 07:30 and those smuggling organizations engage in Miss and disinformation in December according to border patrol figures an average of 1,800 migrants a day cross the border into the El Paso area overwhelming the city to manage the increasing flow of migrants from crisis stricken Nicaragua Haiti and Cuba President Biden expanded the use of a public health law known as title 42 invoked during the pandemic to
• 07:30 - 08:00 expel migrants to Mexico Mexico has agreed to allow up to to return up to 30,000 persons per month at the same time the administration unveiled new Pathways for migrants to enter the us legally all the people in this line at a border crossing in El Paso scheduled an appointment with US Customs and Border Protection by using a mobile app called cbp1 Carla Delgado from Venezuela told us her family had crossed the Darian Gap
• 08:00 - 08:30 a dangerous stretch of jungles straddling Panama and Colombia to get here after a series of background checks and screenings they were granted permission to temporarily enter the United States by early afternoon they enjoyed their first slice of pizza in America they have friends in Chicago and told us they plan to build a new life there and apply for asylum in the US there's a backlog in the immigration system we know only years from now will
• 08:30 - 09:00 judge figure out whether they actually qualify for asylum in the US how is that Arrangement good for them how is that Arrangement good for the country I would ask them after they enjoyed their their first pizza how do they feel as compared to what they fled you mentioned that their Asylum claim may not be adjudicated may not be judged for years our Asylum system is broken we need Congress to fix it the new policies have reduced
• 09:00 - 09:30 the number of migrants Crossing into the US in January and February but created a bottleneck on the other side of the Border in Warz Mexico Monday night a fire at a migrant Detention Center killed at least 38 men from Central and South America days earlier at this women shelter we met families who'd been stuck in Warz for months every morning at 9:00 a.m. women frantically try to refresh the government app hoping to get an
• 09:30 - 10:00 appointment to enter the us we watch with Karina brada who runs the shelter by 9:05 all the appointments and hope were gone it's Lottery with people's lives with people's families with people's livelihoods with people's wellbeing the bid Administration says this is more Humane than what was going on before it is not the most Hume process because the most vulnerable aren't aren't getting access to it like Guadalupe Vas she told us her husband had been
• 10:00 - 10:30 murdered in Southwest Mexico and one of her sons had been shot in the eye needed bullet fragments removed she said she's been trying for 2 months to get an appointment to legally enter the us but I I'm willing to wait to get an appointment even if it takes long she told us but I'm going to make it if you're not able to get an appointment on the app what's your plan I'll try to cross with The Smuggler and I'll cross with my children we saw
• 10:30 - 11:00 more desperation outside a nearby Cathedral Christina Coronado runs a food program there Warz is in a moment of Crisis she told us more than 10,000 migrants are now in the city and most of them are sleeping in the streets as people wait here are they getting frustrated very frustrated very angry very confused these men told us they'd been trying in vain for weeks to get an appointment on the cbp1 app oh yeah and
• 11:00 - 11:30 it gets stuck 9:00 no more 5 try again next day you have to wait for tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow we were in Warz and we're surrounded by a group of migrants everybody's holding up the app pointing to it saying it's not working it's not working and there's frustration and the numbers are growing I will not represent to you Sharon that it is Flawless but remember something that uh to to build a safe and orderly
• 11:30 - 12:00 way uh and we are continuing to build that remember where we were two years ago the Biden Administration has reunited more than 600 children that were separated from their families at the border during the Trump Administration but now the secretary is facing what could be another defining moment for the country on May 11th title 42 the pandemic era Public Health order
• 12:00 - 12:30 will expire that means without some new Arrangement the only illegal border crossers the us could expel to Mexico would be Mexicans thousands of migrants are waiting at the border and thousands more are arriving every day has Mexico agreed to take back non-mexicans if title 42 ends so we are in discussions with Mexico uh with regard to how they will uh handle any
• 12:30 - 13:00 increase uh in the number of individuals seeking to migrate uh North if Mexico doesn't accept other Nationals then what well we have all sorts of uh contingencies I mean that's what we do it's going to be complicated it's going to be expensive it is going to be complicated it is going to be expensive this has been complicated expensive and challenging for decades
• 13:00 - 13:30 for months buses from the US Mexico border carrying tens of thousands of men women and children from Central and South America have been arriving in New York Chicago in Washington DC they were
• 13:30 - 14:00 organized by the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona and the Democratic mayor of El Paso and paid for mostly by taxpayers Greg Abbott Texas's Governor said the buses would give liberal Sanctuary cities a taste of what his state has had to deal with for years many of those coming to New York were Venezuelans fleeing poverty violence and authoritarian Rule and hoping to apply for Asylum but the process can take years and for much of that that time they aren't allowed to work caring for
• 14:00 - 14:30 these new arrivals has been a big Challenge and it's drawn attention to a long standing and bipartisan failure to fix the nation's broken Asylum system when the buses began arriving at New York City's Port Authority terminal from Texas without warning in August City officials had to scramble on some days as many as 8 to 10 buses rolled in filled with men and women carrying children but no luggage last month we met an engineer a taxi
• 14:30 - 15:00 driver some college students and construction workers they were welcomed by Spanish speaking volunteers from local nonprofit groups who gave them water and food and donated winter coats standing nearby L as Gomez was crying she told volunteers she'd been separated from her husband and 18-year-old Son by border officials in Texas her 7-year-old daughter was with her to get to the US like many Venezuelans they' made their way through S Latin American countries
• 15:00 - 15:30 in a perilous stretch of jungle it was very difficult because in the jungle we ran out of food and we ran out of water and a child was shot there were a lot of dead people this is my first time immigrating and I did not know humans were capable of so much evil how were you treated when you cross the border in the US
• 15:30 - 16:00 well you can interpret my silence you can interpret my silence I didn't like being separated from my son Gomez told us she was thankful for the kindness volunteers at Port Authority had shown her they'd even given her daughter a doll thank you for treating us well it's been a while since we were treated well within an hour the volunteers had found her son at a homeless shelter in Manhattan and brought him to Port
• 16:00 - 16:30 Authority to reunite with his mother and sister lce Gomez later found her husband too her family now lives in one of 58 hotels the city has turned into Emergency Shelters at a cost of about $200 a room per night Unsure how many people would ultimately come and how much it would cost to provide them with food shelter Medical Care and other Services New York's mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency last month
• 16:30 - 17:00 we are in a crisis situation this past week Adams told us more than 22,000 migrants have arrived in the city so far this is a city of what 8 million people why would the arrival of 22,000 new people be such an emergency we are a city of 8 million people that CA just came through uh the pandemic many of our residents lost their jobs they lost homes we already had crises that we were navigating and dealing with with Governor Abbott said that the buses
• 17:00 - 17:30 would bring the reality of the crisis of the Southern border to Liberal cities and it has done that hasn't it no I I I disagree with that uh he created this humanitarian crisis by his human hands his actions of there was nothing that prevented him from communicating with our team of saying how do we coordinate this so we don't overburden another municipality his argument would be well we don't know when migrants are going to cross the border illegally so why shouldn't these other cities get a taste
• 17:30 - 18:00 of that okay is his fight with the national policy or is his fight with New Yorkers it is a stark reminder that the system is broken is it not I mean yes and has it the system has been broken we have kicked his can down the road Democrats Republicans and Congress nobody has Clean Hands On on fixing this at this point more than 7 million people have fled the political social and economic chaos in v Venezuela so far it's the second largest Refugee crisis
• 18:00 - 18:30 in the world after Ukraine 187,000 Venezuelans who crossed the border from Mexico into the United States last year have been allowed to stay here while they apply for Asylum but the process now takes years more than 3/4 of a million people from all over the world are already in line ahead of them waiting for an asylum hearing or a final decision many more are waiting just for an opportunity to apply the Asylum system has collapsed
• 18:30 - 19:00 yeah Teresa Cardinal Brown a former immigration policy adviser in the bush and Obama administrations is now a managing director of the bipartisan policy Center which tries to find common ground on major national issues there are you know millions of people arriving to our Southern border who are trying to seek protection trying to Avail themselves of our laws um and we just don't have the Personnel the resources the infrastructure or the right process IES to manage what's happening there
• 19:00 - 19:30 well right now do you have a sense of how long it is somebody who's arriving just now at the Port Authority bus terminal in New York how long it's going to be before they actually have an asylum hearing on average uh people who are not detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement might wait 3 to 5 years 3 to five years are they allowed to work during that time no um if you once you formally filed your ass asum claim in Immigration Court 180 days later then you can apply
• 19:30 - 20:00 for work authorization so it could be you know 4 years four and a half years before you can ask for work authorization in the meantime Brown says Asylum Seekers find themselves in limbo they're here but they can't legally work we don't come here to be a burden to this country I come to work and push ahead Edward and Maria who met in college in Venezuela asked us not to use their last names out of concern for their relatives
• 20:00 - 20:30 back home it took them six weeks this summer to get to the United States with their 9-year-old son and one-year-old daughter they're now living in a hotel in the Bronx that was turned into an emergency shelter but without work permits they're struggling I found a job at a supermarket I worked for three days and he didn't give me he didn't pay me nothing I lost my time you got taken advantage of my fear is if I go to complain he calls the police on me and I
• 20:30 - 21:00 thought no they'll Deport me and that was my fear so I left it like that like many migrants we spoke with Edward and Maria no longer have their Venezuelan passports ID cards or birth certificates they say they were told to hand them over to US Customs and Border Protection agents in Texas and never got them back well they put it in a folder they said whenever you go to court you can ask for them there that's
• 21:00 - 21:30 interesting Teresa Cardinal Brown says US Customs and Border Protection regulations are clear all documents must be returned unless they're fraudulent we interviewed 16 migrants who arrived in New York by bus from Texas all but four said they had important documents taken and not returned and volunteers case workers and lawyers who work with the migrants also told us the problem is widespread in a statement US Customs and Border Protection said it was reviewing its policies and practices to ensure
• 21:30 - 22:00 that documents are returned to the migrant absent a security or law enforcement reason so 90 ID 9 one bright spot for many migrant families has been the New York City public school system which in a period of 3 months enrolled about 7,000 new students most of whom don't speak English 10-year-old Cesar roris now goes to PS 145 in Manhattan his family made the long journey from Venezuela to Mexico and then crossed the treacherous Rio Grand River into Texas do you
• 22:00 - 22:30 remember what it was like coming here was it scary yes he says what was scary when my mom almost drowned in a river and you you saw that happen she yes Russ what are some of the things that go into different bins the principal at ps45 Natalia Russo says she's been doing her best to help Cesar and the other new students adjust she does some students laundry at her home
• 22:30 - 23:00 and has made sure they have school uniforms supplies and help getting into after school programs so what do you say to other families who see what's been done for my my answer that is that this is a humanitarian crisis these folks don't speak the language they they're not part of this culture yet is we just want the children to feel safe not only physically but emotionally we'll do whatever it
• 23:00 - 23:30 [Music] takes Cesar and other children of Asylum Seekers will likely be fluent in English by the time their parents have their Asylum cases ruled on by a judge and if they fail to make their case they and their kids could face deportation how tough is it to make a case that you should get Asylum it's very tough it's very tough the the legal requirement is that you have to have been persecuted or have a well-founded fear of pers ution so if somebody says look I'm coming here
• 23:30 - 24:00 cuz I want a better life for my children that's doesn't qualify for Asylum so most of the people who are showing up at the Port Authority Bus Terminal saying that they are want to seek Asylum when they can get in front of a judge most of them will not actually be granted Asylum I can't say that for sure what I can say is that overall Asylum rates are about 30% Venezuelans tend to have a much higher Asylum rate because of what's happening in
• 24:00 - 24:30 Venezuela in the past few weeks the number of buses from the border arriving in New York has decreased significantly that's because the Biden Administration announced it was creating a legal pathway for 24,000 Venezuelan Asylum Seekers to enter the us if they had sponsors but it also began expelling Venezuelans to Mexico if they'd cross the border illegally they basically went back to a policy that was in place put in place by the Trump Administration which allows for Venezuelans to be sent
• 24:30 - 25:00 back to Mexico and not apply for Asylum here in the United States I think that the national politics is well well over my head on determining what we're doing nationally do you think people who come to this country and want to seek Asylum should be able to work while they're here waiting yes I do doesn't that encourage more and more people just to come no I don't I don't think it create surprise what we should be asking is why is it taking so long we should let
• 25:00 - 25:30 people know right away based on a preliminary review you cannot get an asylum uh here in the country and then those who are eligible and reach a minimum criteria we could put it on a faster track the bipartisan border Solutions act introduced in Congress would make that possible by adding more immigration judges and Asylum officers and building four new processing centers along the Southern border where the government could determine whether
• 25:30 - 26:00 migrants have a credible fear of persecution before they're allowed to stay in the US Teresa Cardinal Brown the former policy adviser in two administrations says she'd like to believe Congress will finally do something to fix the problem but she's skeptical for 30 years they haven't passed really any substantive change to any of our immigration laws is this a democratic failure a republican Administration failure it's both at some point they've got it decide that fixing it is better and necessary more so than
• 26:00 - 26:30 using it to try to win the next election this summer an image of desperation was captured on the bank of the Rio Grand if you saw the photo you may never forget it a father and his
• 26:30 - 27:00 23-month-old daughter face down in the muddy river the two drown trying to get to the United States like hundreds of others who have died trying to cross the river illegally many of the details of their lives and how they died were either a mystery or reported incorrectly but tonight you'll hear from the only person who knows the story behind that photo including the moment she saw her husband and daughter swept away her name is Tanya aalos and last month in El Salvador she told us her
• 27:00 - 27:30 story this is the photo that appeared on the front page of newspapers a father with his young daughter tucked inside his T-shirt face down on the bank of the Rio Grand but this is the photo Tanya aalos wants you to remember of her family that's her with her husband Oscar and daughter Valeria it was taken on Valeria's first birthday it's okay Tanya had not spoken to anyone about what happened to them
• 27:30 - 28:00 but she told us she wanted to talk about her faith so that was our first question tell me about your faith and how your faith has kind of guided you through the last few months first I'd like to thank God above all for the opportunity he's giving me to share a message with the world so they can see and think that sometimes bad
• 28:00 - 28:30 decisions are really painful Tanya and Oscar met 5 years ago she told us she was attracted to his quiet confidence ask anyone what's Oscar like and they'll tell you wonderful things about him God gave me a good man he would say to me I want to be a father I want to be a father of a little girl and I would say calm down I have to study and so at the end we formed a
• 28:30 - 29:00 family the daughter Oscar wanted so badly was born in July of 2017 Tanya showed us family photos oh she looks like Daddy too so cute here she is a year old trying to learn to pronounce her own name Valeria tell me about valyri my was an extraordinary
• 29:00 - 29:30 girl very intelligent everyone called her by her nickname kulo because she had curly hair she loved to dance I would go to work I had a job that took all of my time and I would say for you my love for you we do all this the young family lived on the outskirts of San salv door in a suburb called San
• 29:30 - 30:00 Martin it has the same problems as much of the country a third of its residents live on less than $55 dollars a day and gang violence is rampant El Salvador has the highest homicide rate of any country not at War Tanya and Oscar's neighborhood was controlled by the bario 18 gang which demands protection money from businesses and some people's paychecks Tanya worked at a Chinese restaurant Oscar at a pizza
• 30:00 - 30:30 place they lived in this small house with his mother what were your dreams for your family what had you hoped why did you leave home our dream was to move our family forward every human being has dreams Oscar was a person who would say I don't want my mother to have to work I don't want my father to have to work I want us all to get ahead Oscar 25 years old sold his most
• 30:30 - 31:00 valuable possession his motorcycle and in March the young family left El Salvador for the United States their first stop was the city of tapachula on Mexico's border with Guatemala there the family waited for a travel visa that would allow them to go through Mexico to support the family Oscar worked at a food stand for $7.50 a day we stayed for 2 months in
• 31:00 - 31:30 tapachula every day was a new day and a new challenge but always in God's hands in tapachula Oscar met another Salvadoran Milton Paredes the four of them decided to rent a room together and later to make the bus trip to the US border Tanya told us they didn't have any money after they spent $300 on the bus tickets it took 32 hours to make the Thousand M trip they arrived in
• 31:30 - 32:00 Matamoros Mexico in the early morning of Sunday June 23rd the Border Town was a blistering waiting room for Central Americans hoping for asylum in the United States according to data from the Department of Homeland Security there was at least a 2month wait to see a US immigration judge even then just two out of 10 Salvadorans meet the threshold to be granted Asylum Oscar Tanya and Milton didn't know those
• 32:00 - 32:30 odds when they got to mam Morris and they'd spent all of their money soon after they arrived they went to cross the main bridge that stretches over the Rio Grand to Brownsville Texas but Tanya and Milton both told us they were stopped on the Mexican side by Thugs who demanded $1,300 to pass over the bridge we probably spent a good amount of time walking around and thinking about what we were going to do so we
• 32:30 - 33:00 thought Let's cross the river because we don't have any money to pay someone to get us across to immigration right then and there we decided that we were going to cross the river this is where they went the banks of the Rio Grand known in Spanish as the Rio Bravo or Ruff River here it's about 50 yard wide America appeared to be in reach Tanya said they made the decision
• 33:00 - 33:30 to swim across the river and enter the United States illegally we said to each other the time is now the time is now for us to do this their improvised plan was to surrender to the US border patrol once they got to the other side Oscar swam across the river first to see if anyone would stop them he was signaling to us that no one was there so then he came back because I
• 33:30 - 34:00 was on the Mexican side with my daughter I said to him I'm scared and he said to me everything's going to be fine the surface of the Rio Grand appears calm but emergency responders in South Texas told us the river's current can be unpredictable and ferocious enough to suck you under Tanya couldn't swim so they decided Milton who was a strong swimmer would carry her on his back Oscar decided to carry his daughter
• 34:00 - 34:30 Valaria he put her daughter inside his shirt obviously he couldn't carry her on top because she might fall off but since he was thin and his shirt was very big our daughter fit perfectly inside and he started to swim and I followed behind him and I saw him doing okay I mean he was close very close and I noticed him
• 34:30 - 35:00 starting to get frustrated I could see that he was coming up and going under Tanya told us that in her panic she was barely able to hold on to Milton as he turned back I swallowed so much water I swallowed so much water and I was desperate and I got out I got out on the Mexican side and I could still see my husband there
• 35:00 - 35:30 struggling struggling along with my daughter I saw her I saw her and I said my God my Lord please get them out of [Music] there and I just saw my husband giving me a glance and then I couldn't see him anymore
• 35:30 - 36:00 I could not see him anymore that's Tanya showing Mexican officers where she saw Oscar and Valeria last divers suspended their search at sundown they took me to the migrant shelter in monotos when I walked in I saw a lot of immigrants from different countries and I started telling them don't sacrifice your children pray to the Lord and He will give you everything you want but don't
• 36:00 - 36:30 immigrate Oscar and Valeria's bodies were discovered the next morning washed up on the Mexican side of the river a photographer was there and snapped the now famous photo father and daughter in a final Embrace in the days that followed the image became a global symbol of the crisis in America's Southern border the photograph that all of us saw this
• 36:30 - 37:00 week should tear all of us up it prompted a brief moment of bipartisan reflection for a congress deadlocked on immigration I hope that picture alone will cataliz this Congress this Senate this committee to do something within a week Congress did pass an emergency multi-billion dollar package to hire new judges and build facilities to deal with the surge of central Americans at the US border since
• 37:00 - 37:30 then the Congress has not passed any immigration legislation after this all happened many people wrote to me they said they were very sorry others called me names and told me that I was greedy that I put my daughter's life at risk that I didn't love them and made me feel so
• 37:30 - 38:00 bad since Oscar and Valeria died in June the bodies of at least 52 more migrants have been found in the Rio Grand four of them children most of their stories are unknown this story ends with a 21-year-old Widow and a modest Memorial on the bank of the river it reads in memory of little valyria and her papa Oscar do you have family here family supporting what is your life like now that you've been
• 38:00 - 38:30 back I do I have my mother and my siblings I almost never cry at home because I'm afraid they'll feel bad I hold it all in but there are times when I just break completely I cry all I have to cry I wash my face and I go out and I go back to work and I keep
• 38:30 - 39:00 going president Trump promised he'd crack down on illegal immigrants and in his first 100 days has moved quickly to do just that since the president took office the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency ice says it's arrested 21,000 undocumented immigrants more than 5,000 of whom have no criminal
• 39:00 - 39:30 record that's more than twice as many as the year before the president supporters argue his tough new policy has led to a dramatic drop in the number of people trying to cross into the us this year but it's also had a profound effect on communities throughout the country for the past few weeks we followed how the new policy has played out in one community in Indiana where people were surprised to learn that one of those deported was a friend and neighbor the owner of a popular local restaurant he'd lived in this country for nearly 20
• 39:30 - 40:00 years had no criminal record and his wife and children are all US citizens Eddie Stak shed in Granger Indiana is a local institution it's a family run restaurant where generations of hoers have come for conversation and cholesterol seems like this is like your local cheers it is but as we spoke with these regulars a few weeks ago the man they said was the heart of the business its longtime cook
• 40:00 - 40:30 and new owner Roberto beristain was behind bars awaiting deportation barain entered the US illegally from Mexico in 1998 but in recent years he'd been issued a temporary work permit a social security number and a driver's license it just feels wrong the community is better for having someone like him I mean he showed up here with just the shirt on his back and he's a restaurant owner 20 years later I I mean that's and he worked his butt off to get there I've seen it they're all strong supporters of Roberto
• 40:30 - 41:00 beristain though four out of six of them voted for President Trump during the primaries the president said this about illegal immigrants they will go out they will come back some will come back the best through a process and it may not be a very quick process and later during the general election he said this but we have some bad ombres here and we're going to get them out I voted for because he said he was going to get rid of the bad the bad ombres Roberto is a
• 41:00 - 41:30 good ombre Roberto Bain's wife Helen who also works at the restaurant was born in Greece and became a US citizen 16 years ago she met robberto in 1998 at another restaurant in Fort Wayne Indiana he was a buser and I was a server he started talking to me a lot and I tried to ignore him he kept on talking to IGN him smiling and smiling and smiling he always smiles very positive person they got married had three kids and settled
• 41:30 - 42:00 into a comfortable Suburban life has he ever been in trouble with the law never never committed a crime DUI definitely not no he's not a criminal he's not a criminal the only bad thing he he's done it stayed in the United States because he loves this country that's his only crime according to most estimates there are about 11 million people living within the US illegally about 3% of them have felony convictions we prioritize
• 42:00 - 42:30 criminals we prioritize uh gang bangers for most of his presidency Barack Obama ordered ice to focus on deporting people convicted of felonies and serious misdemeanors ice agents were often asked to explain their decision to remove anyone else particularly those whose family members were US citizens thank you for being here but on his fifth day in office president Trump signed a new executive order that made it easier to deport
• 42:30 - 43:00 people who have no criminal record including anyone who has what's called a final order of removal against them it's that wording that changed the barristan's lives that's because 17 years ago Roberto and Helen who was pregnant with their first child took a trip to Niagara Falls she says they made a wrong turn and ended up near the Canadian border Roberto was detained for not having any papers he was released only after he agreed to this immigration court order
• 43:00 - 43:30 requiring his voluntary departure from the United States within 60 days when he didn't leave he automatically became the subject of a final order of removal which mandated he be deported your husband did break the law didn't didn't leave the country when he had told the judge that he would why should he get special treatment when other people who have been waiting in line are trying to do it the right way my husband first of all broke the law because at the time when I was pregnant I was very ill and
• 43:30 - 44:00 he was at a high risk either losing the baby or losing my life so the decision he had to make was between me and the baby or him going back to Mexico he chose us but any other men what would they do in his shoes Helen says over the years they've spent more than $445,000 hiring attorneys to try to legalize Roberto's status but it wasn't until 3 years years ago that things started looking up for the bars Roberto
• 44:00 - 44:30 obtained a temporary deferral of that deportation order which meant he could get a work permit a social security number and a driver's license all he had to do was check in with the government once a year and prove he'd been in no trouble with the law he was excited he says I'm all legal now I'm so good to go but it was still just a temporary status he still had to checking with ice every year right exactly on February 6th shortly after president Trump signed his new executive order Roberto beristain came here to an immigration office in Indianapolis for
• 44:30 - 45:00 his annual check-in Helen was in the parking lot waiting when an ice officer came to let her know her husband would not be coming home he said your husband is being detained because he is a fugitive I said my husband is a fugitive my husband is not running from you you need not come knock on my door to look for my husband he came to you why this year he is a fugitive what happened Roberto was doing everything he was supposed to do so he was an easy target he wasn't hiding he wasn't living in the
• 45:00 - 45:30 shadows right and so they grabbed somebody who was following the rules most of you voted for Donald Trump he said he was going to do this he's done this why are you surprised because this is not the person he said he would Deport and why would you Deport somebody like that when you got so many other bad people out there uh it just doesn't make sense to me ice declined to give us an interview but in a statement the agency said barain was detained because of that final order of removal in accordance with Federal
• 45:30 - 46:00 immigration law James carafano a policy expert at the Heritage Foundation and a member of Mr Trump's transition team told us the president's new policy is designed to serve as a deterrent it's not that they're going out and they're looking for people who have done nothing but that we have an obligation to enforce the law and if somebody comes across our path who's broken the law then you know what they're probably going to go cuz the message is there's a new sheriff in town and the law is going to be enforced you're saying that
• 46:00 - 46:30 deporting somebody like Roberto beristain it does send a message to others who may be thinking about coming here illegally I I think that's absolutely true the number of people caught trying to cross the southern border has dropped 60% in the first 3 months of President Trump's Administration apprehensions are now at a 17-year low analysts we spoke to believe the president's tough new policies have discouraged border crossers but so have other factors including an improving job outlook in Mexico the average cost of deporting
• 46:30 - 47:00 someone like Roberto barain is about $1,000 his Odyssey through the immigration detention system gives you some sense why over the course of two months he was moved from Indianapolis to Brazil Indiana Kenosha Wisconsin then Kaki Illinois New Orleans Louisiana chapero New Mexico and Sierra Blanca and El Paso Texas his family often didn't know where he was going or why he was being moved there tell me something did they tell you when they're going to
• 47:00 - 47:30 deport you we were at the house one evening when Roberto called so wait a minute they said not Roberto they said they were going to take you to Mexico City so now they're changing again okay I love you be careful bye sounded scared scared like what's going to happen to me the irony of what's happened is not lost on Roberto's wife like a lot of her friends and relatives Helen barain also
• 47:30 - 48:00 voted for President Trump you voted for him I voted for him because he said we're going to make our economy better I I did like that idea and I said to Roberto I said you know what you know you're getting a small business and that's going to help you with your taxes but he said okay well you don't think he's going to deport us all people and I said Roberto actually raised that idea yeah he did and I said Roberto come on now you got your documents you obey the law you haven't done anything bad you you're not a criminal are there times when you feel that you made a terrible
• 48:00 - 48:30 mistake like they say you should read the fine print first before you make a selection I should have listened closely to those debates that was the mistake I made I didn't listen the bearer stain's children 8-year-old Demitri 14-year-old Jasmine and 16-year-old Maria have a difficult time understanding what's happened to their father amazing Maria did you know he wasn't a US citizen no I didn't know he makes this home a
• 48:30 - 49:00 home and he makes a family of family cuz he's you know the father and when he's gone when you take that away from a family he's like it's all going down like for my mom it's very hard and for us it's hard too what did he say to you when you were talking on the phone the first thing he said was you got a he was asking you about your school yeah I'm like yeah and he's like okay good cuz I want you to become a lawyer I was like yeah I'm going to become a lawyer an attorney I'm going to be an immigration
• 49:00 - 49:30 attorney since Roberto bar stain's detention has been in the news the restaurant has received threatening calls and angry letters directed at Helen pack your bags and go to Mexico said one when you voted for Trump you were voting for every bigot who's coming after you said another you got people hating people left and right this is not America this is not the America dream and this is how this is not how we're making America great again on April 4th
• 49:30 - 50:00 at 10 p.m. Roberto barain was taken to this border crossing and deported to Warz Mexico he spent the night at a shelter run by the Catholic church we found him there the next morning he told us he was praying to be reunited with his family and was still somehow optimistic wherever I go they're going to be with me everything's going to be okay either way or other way we're going to be together if I was told that peaceful um immigrants that
• 50:00 - 50:30 are trying are in the process of becoming an American citizen would be deported I would not have voted for Trump some people say look illegal immigrants are coming here and they're taking jobs that's not even the case with Roberto he employs what 20 people he's not taking jobs he's creating jobs is it a good use of resources to deport someone like Roberto barin that is part of the overall public good of demonstr not just to Americans but to people around the world that American immigration laws are going to be
• 50:30 - 51:00 enforced that's an important message so there's no room for discretion um I mean I I'm look I don't enforce the law I don't say there's room for discretion I'm saying I don't necessarily think that just because somebody was you know nice in the 20 years they live here that they have a right to live here Roberto barristan's lawyers are challenging the validity of that old order of removal that led to his deportation to Mexico they may also apply for a special waiver for for him to re-enter the us but that can take 2 to 3 years if he's denied
• 51:00 - 51:30 he'll be banned from returning for a decade there is a peaceful Rebellion growing against Federal immigration law and the interpretation of that law by the Trump Administration more than 800 houses of worship across the country have volunteered to shelter illegal immigrants and their families who face
• 51:30 - 52:00 deportation daring federal agents to step through their stained glass doors the churches and synagogues are joining more than 600 cities and counties that have declared themselves sanctuaries ordering their police not to detain people if it's only because of their immigration status in no other venue of the law has so much of the nation stood in Defiance of [Music]
• 52:00 - 52:30 Washington Philadelphia's Arch Street Methodist church was built by Abraham Lincoln's favorite Minister we are a sanctuary church and 155 years later Reverend Robin hinika is on the same chapter and verse by baptismal Covenant there's a vow that's taken either on my behalf when I was baptized as a child or as an adult that I would take the power and the freedom that God gives me to resist evil Injustice and oppression in
• 52:30 - 53:00 whatever forms they show themselves well in your view what is this evil Injustice or oppression it's Injustice and oppression uh all of which is evil yeah when a human beings human rights are denied when they can't stay with their family when they can't work when they can't participate in the community in which they have Deep Roots uh all of those apply he's talking about Javier Flores Garcia who has lived in the church basement for 6
• 53:00 - 53:30 months he came from Mexico illegally in 1997 he's a landscaper with a decade old DUI on his record his other offense is crossing the border repeatedly a judge ordered him deported but he moved here rather than leave his three children who were born citizens I think you have to keep fighting and I'm doing this for my kids and I would do it again if it became necessary we're taking a leap of faith right in many respects because we don't
• 53:30 - 54:00 know what's going to happen federal agents can arrest Flores in the church but us Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as ice has a decades long policy of avoiding places of worship schools and hospitals my advice would be they should come out of the basement of the churches and follow the law Daniel Ragsdale is deputy director of ice he runs the daily operations and oversees 13,000 officers so if they are
• 54:00 - 54:30 to check in with ice they should come and check in with ice checking in with ice is going to get them deported checking in with ice will follow the law uh and in cases where there's a a removal order of course we would execute it how much concern do you have about separating families in deportations as a human being I know it is it is traumatic for folks um but I will also say that the rule of law is something that America is built on but this seems to be the one area where the narrative about
• 54:30 - 55:00 separating families you know sort of gets a little bit ratcheted up well you can understand why well I I can but I I would suggest that that every person who has you know come to the United States illegally just like if I went somewhere and you know resided in violation of law I could expect at some point that sovereign country to want to remove me we're rounding them up in a very humane way in a very nice way and they're going to be happy because they want to be legalized you before the election
• 55:00 - 55:30 candidate Trump told us he would Deport all of an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants and and by the way I know it doesn't sound nice but not everything is nice thank you very much now president Trump says he's pursuing violent criminal immigrants first you see what's happening at the border all of a sudden for the first time we're getting gang members out we're getting drug lords out we're getting really bad dudes out of this country and at a rate that nobody's
• 55:30 - 56:00 ever seen before and they're the bad ones it's not just the bad guys the fact is in the Trump Administration according to ice about 11,000 undocumented people with no criminal records have been detained so far that's twice as many as last year because of this the number of religious institutions across the country offer in sanctuary has doubled to 800 just last week this church in
• 56:00 - 56:30 Buffalo New York offered Sanctuary to a family of six from Honduras the church has opened its doors to 40 illegal immigrants since January Blessed Are You When congregations in cities including Phoenix Denver and Philadelphia give Sanctuary they are in open Defiance of immigration law that leads me to wonder whether there's any internal conflict within you I you preach morals and yet
• 56:30 - 57:00 you're breaking the law there's no conflict I think uh I've said this before that when a law breaks the backs of God's people then it's time for us to think about breaking those laws trouble is those laws never stop changing and that's one reason the immigration debate is never settled since 1790 Congress has Rewritten immigration law on average about every four years America imported
• 57:00 - 57:30 Chinese labor to build the Transcontinental Railroad and when it was finished Congress banned all Chinese in World War I nearly 20% of US forces were not citizens in World War II America begged more than 4 million Mexicans to come to work and in 198 6 Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to illegal immigrants day one my first hour in
• 57:30 - 58:00 office those people are gone Mr Trump blames immigrants for violence he often fired up his rallies by raising the Murder By an illegal immigrant of a woman in San Francisco a sanctuary City but according to the Department of Justice the incarceration rate for illegal immigrants is 1ir that of citizens to lay criminality at the feet of immigrants is not only morally
• 58:00 - 58:30 unfair it is it is factually wrong one of Jim Kenny's first acts as mayor was to declare Philadelphia a sanctuary which means his police do not ask about citizenship and will not hold illegal immigrants if the only reason is that ice wants to deport them he says it violates the Constitution to hold people without a warrant there are more than 600 cities counties and states that consider themselves sanctuaries two
• 58:30 - 59:00 years ago there were half as many we've ordered a crack down on Sanctuary cities president Trump is now trying to cut off federal funds from these Sanctuary cities but he's been stopped so far by the courts this is not US versus them this is this is we upholding the Constitution of United States of America and asking them to comply with it also by presenting us with the proper judicial warrant so we can release that person to their custody the feds are talking about taking your federal money
• 59:00 - 59:30 away and Mr Mayor I bet you can't afford that no but think about the conundrum that that that this presented if you if you accept the assertion that undocumented immigrants cause crime which I do not accept and I think it's wrong why would you defund police departments well you know there are people shouting at the television right now saying if they came illegally they shouldn't be here it's a terrible thing but they shouldn't have come well you know Ellis Island opened in 1892 the bulk of Irish diaspora came to America
• 59:30 - 60:00 in the 1840s we didn't have papers either we were undocumented there was an anti-italian slur when I was growing up in my neighborhood called um that's without papers if you come through the country without documents because you're starving in your country or you're being held hostage by drug dealers or you're afraid your children are going to be shot in the streets or on their Farm um I think that that's self-preservation and self- survival and any group of people would would would would flock to America because that's been the historic place where people came to be saved this is my country I'm working hard Sixto P
• 60:00 - 60:30 would have been deported 10 months ago if he hadn't confined himself to Shadow Rock United Church of Christ in Phoenix good morning Ismael Delgado moved in four months ago we came to work p crossed illegally in 1985 under the policy of President Reagan he was granted a work permit which was revoked under the policies of George W bush his four children are citizens by
• 60:30 - 61:00 birth oh his youngest is five I spent 32 years over here and I don't want to live in alone and I pay my taxes for 28 years paid your taxes 28 years yes there are people watching the interview who are saying you shouldn't have come here when someone you got hungry you know how job you know have money what do you want to do I know come to United States to take
• 61:00 - 61:30 vacation man I'm here because I had to that's what I'm coming with here and I respect all the Lord I respect the people I'm working hard to do the best I got a clean record and I learn a lot over here I learn a language and not I don't speak very well but I'm working on that and my son my daughters yes a
• 61:30 - 62:00 professionals you have two older daughters who are medical assistants they both graduated from college here in the United States yes sir sounds like the American dream yes if the priority is serious criminal offenders why are we seeing deportation orders for little old ladies and middle-aged men who've never committed a crime so that's that's a great question so if someone who is placed in removal proceedings goes through that entire process again all the taxpayer expense and gets a removal
• 62:00 - 62:30 order if we encounter that person and that order has been litigated and challenged and due process has been met it's odd that anyone would expect us to Simply ignore all those decisions by lawyers by judges by federal court judges in some cases and simply say we're going to make policy on the street and ignore it one of the changes in the guidance from the Obama ad ation to the Trump Administration is that President Trump's executive order prioritizes the removal of those who entered illegally
• 62:30 - 63:00 well that's everybody that's 11 million people we only have the same size Workforce there's there's just no way that that could simply be done in any rapid fashion which is why we are still focusing on the folks that I talked about which are people that present the greatest risk of Public Safety Javier embodies the spirit of sanctuary he and we together are Sanctuary do you worry that the government might take steps
• 63:00 - 63:30 against Sanctuary congregations across the country I do worry about that I think it would be a huge um breach of um the age- old traditions of providing at least having some place in our civil society where there's a there's an opportunity to challenge um laws and policy and procedures that are creating more Injustice than they are creating Justice in rare cases ice officers have
• 63:30 - 64:00 made arrests near schools and churches a man was arrested in California dropping his child at school and in Virginia several illegal immigrants were arrested shortly after walking out of this church leaving many to wonder where are the lines once the borders been crossed those are the laws that congress has passed I don't think it's it's anybody's question that if you don't have lawful status that at some point you could be
• 64:00 - 64:30 removed uh and I think that's something that people should be aware of and again I think the president uh uh when he announced the program was pretty clear about that