01x02 - Maintaining Vigilance

[bunniefuu]

♪ I came from my homeland with a dream ♪

♪ To work and to have something better ♪

American dream

You ended up being false ♪

♪ And immigration has me monitored ♪

♪ They are going to deport me ♪

♪ When my case is over ♪

♪ My kids fatherless ♪

♪ And my wife crying ♪

♪ And my brothers are all scattered ♪

♪ In secret houses ♪

♪ Not knowing their fate ♪

Grab your things and have a seat.

Have your kids on your laps, please.

We are going to put

an ankle bracelet on you.

Once we have put this on you,

you cannot take it off

until you report to your meeting

with immigration.

Once they're apprehended,

they're processed, and then they're taken

to the detention centers.

Normally, we call them

the "family residential centers,"

and if they're full, or they're not able

to accommodate those families,

then they're bused over here

to our facility,

and they're placed on GPS monitoring.

Regardless if we're releasing them,

we're still maintaining vigilance

over them

to ensure that they're being compliant.

The bracelet is waterproof.

Nothing will happen if it gets wet.

You can shower with it without a problem.

Can you pull down your sock, please?

We'll give you two batteries,

and you have to charge them

three times a day.

Anytime you hear a message,

do as it says.

Okay.

Remember,

you can't travel more than 75 miles

or 120 kilometers away

from the address you gave to ICE.

Any questions?

- I have a question.

- What is it?

Ma'am, can I work with this device?

In the United States,

it's unlawful to work

without a work permit.

Everyone grab the charger

under your chair and head to the bus.

Let's go.

Move on. Grab your children.

Don't do it if it's not your child.

I spent 40 days locked up,

without being able to do anything

in ICE detention.

The only thing I wanted was

to be with my son.

Daddy!

Daddy!

The 11th

was the first time I could be with my son.

That's when they put the bracelet

on my foot.

ICE gave me a document telling me

to show up tomorrow

at their office here in Norfolk, I think.

Did they tell

you to bring your child tomorrow?

Did they

tell you to bring your child tomorrow?

Only me.

Only me.

Okay. Because you're on

the non-retain docket,

you show up tomorrow,

and they may or may not keep

the ankle bracelet on you.

You know, they're not planning

to take him into custody.

But again,

because he is illegally present,

they could feasibly take him

into custody at any time.

He says it's likely

that they will not take you in tomorrow.

Okay.

But the permission to stay

could be taken away at any moment.

You may receive notification

that you've lost that permission.

Okay.

So now, I am here

with my son in the same place.

My wife was able to cross as well.

But she is with our daughter,

four hours from here, in Springfield,

and I am in Virginia Beach.

What can I do?

What do I say to ICE

for them to reunite all four of us?

As far as reuniting

with your wife and other child,

I honestly have absolutely no idea

what you could possibly do

to get that done.

You know, there's no legal pressure on ICE

to do anything about it.

Other than talking to the field officers

and making that request,

I really don't know what to tell you.

Miguel. D.R.

Miguel.

This is you? All right.

- So, we have final order of removal

- Yeah.

Dated 2012.

So, you've been in the country

five years illegally.

Do you have your passport?

You guys has.

Okay, so

your motion to reopen was denied in 2013.

It expired so I can deport you.

You had to have known,

like, this was coming, right?

- I don't hide, because

- You're going to jail.

Can we buy the ticket right now?

You put me on the

- No.

- Airport?

- We can buy right now, we can

- No. It don't work that way.

I need you to take off everything.

Your money, your watches, everything.

Your belt, your shoelaces

- You said you have a child, right?

- I have a child.

All right,

anybody picking up the child today?

My wife. She's in the building.

Can I tell her?

I'll tell her.

Just turn and face the wall.

- We took him into custody, so

- Can I see him?

No, you can't see him.

Is there a way that he

We can buy a ticket?

He can go, and we can

I can get prepared for this.

No, he's gonna leave in a couple weeks.

- I need to see him.

- Well, you can't see him.

I mean, you had two years.

This is not on ICE.

- Go to the window, please.

- How are you doing, sir?

- Please have a seat.

- Thanks.

My job is to identify individuals

that don't belong in this country, okay?

My job is to execute

a removal of those individuals.

So, it's kind of like, "Here's your order

that says you don't belong."

And ICE, ERO, "Here's your order

that says you gotta get them gone."

We ask them to come before us,

or we give 'em an appointment date.

Like, my unit basically has folks

that come in and report on appointment.

Vida.

What that entails is

individuals who are

going through the proceedings

or have a final order given

by an immigration judge

to actually, you know,

depart the United States,

but they're not in custody.

This is your daughter? All right.

What country are you from?

Ghana.

[]You were let go on your own recognizance

so that you can basically take care of

whatever business you had, okay?

Be it medical, be it,

you know, family-based.

We have allowed them

to not have to be

within a detention facility setting,

but they're still moving towards removal.

Okay, so you have

a final order of removal dated 1996.

Counsel, you said you gave us a stay.

- Yes, I did.

- Your stay is based on what?

Based on the client's

long-standing ties in the United States,

the fact that she has

three US citizen children.

She has no criminal history,

is a law-abiding citizen.

In the instance that your

stay is not approved, what's your plan?

There is no plan B at this time.

There's no plan B. Okay.

Is this office granting

many stays these days?

No. And when they make

the determination, there's no appeal.

That's it.

My supervisor is actually

gonna review your stay now.

He's also gonna consider the option

of putting

a bracelet on her just

to ensure compliance.

- You're talking about a foot bracelet?

- Correct.

That's pretty harsh, isn't it?

It's not harsh, only because

it's 50-50 on people

actually showing to the airport

without one.

With one, it's a higher probability

of her actually following through

with her departure.

- Hello, Officer John.

- The child can stay outside

with one of the parents.

- I don't need both parents.

- Okay.

I did deny your stay originally,

- and you did get a copy of that, right?

- Yes.

Correct, we did.

And it was actually sent back

to the supervisor,

and it was actually reviewed,

and I guess you would've

The good news is it's overturned,

which means

that it was approved. Okay?

- So, your extension has been granted

- Wonderful news.

For another year.

- Okay?

- Amazing.

- You understand?

- For one year, then?

- Great.

- Yes, extended for another year.

Okay. That's why I told you yesterday,

- don't worry.

- Officer John, you know I have to worry,

- and you know why I have to worry.

- I do understand.

You do understand.

You know what's going on.

- Trust me. I understand.

- Yeah.

And I know you guys get new orders.

I mean, things change from day to day,

- right? I mean

- Right. It does.

That's the problem.

- That's awesome.

- You guys

- are lucky today, so

- Very lucky.

Stay of removal,

emergency stay of removal,

especially if it's pending with the court?

- They have no right to touch.

- I know.

No right at all.

There is a possibility that they will

- Yeah.

- They will deport

even though there's a motion.

- That I never heard of.

- Right.

- That, I never heard of. That

- I know.

Twenty-four years,

I've never heard of it, either,

and here we are.

There was a lot of uncertainty before,

but now it's tenfold.

There's a good chunk of people

that don't have any criminal records.

Back then, under the Obama administration,

they pushed priorities.

If you were a non-crim,

we could push those people to the side.

We'll come back to you at some point.

That's not the case anymore.

It's real-life situations now.

These people now know

that the end is very near.

We were removing a ton of people

under the Obama administration.

I mean, he was the "deporter in chief,"

quote, unquote, you know.

And there was a lot of uncertainty then.

This administration,

probably double.

Probably double, if not more.

Yeah.

Yeah, I voted for the man, so

Lin.

Lin Xing.

- How you doing?

- Hi.

- I pronounce your name right?

- No.

I pronounce your name right?

That's you? No, that's not you?

How you pronounce that?

I don't know, I can't pronounce

My Chinese is not very good, man.

All I know is "kung pao chicken."

- That's it.

- Yeah.

This your name?

- No.

- How about you?

Ask him over here.

Come over here. There you go.

They have tangible fear of coming to,

26 Federal Plaza, this building.

Like, they believe walking here

will merely paint a bull's-eye on them,

and they will have to be removed.

So, the perception,

the outside perception

of someone looking in says,

"Look, he went to the building

to get information,

and he never came out."

Have we made arrests in his building?

Sure. Yeah, we have,

but not for any arbitrary reasons.

There is always a tangible,

specific reason

that I will arrest somebody.

Non-crim, Bangladeshi.

USC child, wife,

who is also reporting here as well.

How old is the child?

Child looks like

she's about four years old.

She with him today?

- She's with the mother outside.

- Ah.

Obviously, we're not gonna take her

into custody at this point.

We'll just take him

if you are okay with it.

- Yeah.

- All right.

- Let's do it.

- Let's do it.

All right, so

you will not be able to see your wife

or your child from here on out.

All right. I don't wanna

break your child's heart on Halloween.

All right?

So, take everything out of your pockets.

You know, one would think that

there's a cookie-cutter thing.

That you can do a flowchart

and just go, "If this, then that,"

but it really isn't.

There are so many different factors.

Are there children?

Are there criminal cases?

Have they exhausted our relief?

Do we have bed space?

These are all, you know,

cogs in the wheel

that have to kind of align

for things to happen.

And as you can see, they tend to happen,

you know, one, two, three, four,

right behind the other,

so you don't have a lot of time

to dwell on what the decision was.

You just gotta make it and run.

As of now, your husband

is gonna be taken into custody

as you're fully aware.

He's gonna be processed here,

but eventually, at some point today,

he'll be transferred

to one of our detention facilities.

It's a nice drive.

I enjoy no, honestly

I mean, for you, it will be brutal,

but for

It's a beautiful drive, though, honestly.

All right, fellas. One at a time.

When you arrive at your barrack,

the first thing they will do

is tell you the rules of the barracks.

The rules have changed a lot.

You or a relative have 30 days

to pick up your belongings.

If they don't pick them up

in those 30 days,

we will throw it away.

Many of you arrived with someone.

With a child, a husband,

a brother, sister or grandchild.

If you have children under 17,

we cannot tell you where they are.

We will give you a phone number.

You can call this number and verify

that you are the parents or grandparents.

If I had known they

were going to separate me from my son,

I would never have left my country.

Because it hurts a lot.

Even the best man

cries about being separated

from his child.

Because we have a heart,

and we love our family.

And we come to this country

for our family.

I would ask this country

to give me the opportunity

to be with my son.

And I'd like to thank them for

the decision to let

people continue their process

while wearing ankle bracelets

To continue with the process freely.

Free and not locked up

and separated from our children.

We have nothing

to do with immigration court.

We, deportation officers,

cannot deport you

while you're waiting to see a judge.

If they give you a date in December,

you'll have to wait until December.

Okay?

After a month or two of nothing happening,

many of you may become desperate

and ask the officers

to get you out of here,

but we cannot let you out.

I've been here three months

shut in, without seeing my son.

The others that came with us

are already reunited with their children.

But not me.

I don't know what is happening with us

or what is going to happen.

They are not sending us back

to our country,

and they're not reuniting us, either.

In order

to release our son from the shelter,

my wife sent a custody letter

so he could stay with my sister-in-law,

and she could take care of our son

while they resolve our case.

Now, the people from ICE say

my son is no longer included in my case.

In this country,

it's like I'm no longer his father.

It's complicated

'cause I'm thinking about my daughter.

That is my fear.

That they catch me, deport me.

And who is going to stay

with my daughter?

That's why I'm always careful.

I don't go out in the street that much.

Only from work to home.

Because you are afraid of being seized.

It's not like in Guatemala,

where you are free and can walk anywhere,

without being afraid that immigration

is going to grab you.

But here, yes.

You always have immigration on your mind.

I knew they were on their way here

from Guatemala.

But, then, they told me

my nephew was in the shelter

and that I had to be responsible for him.

I was surprised

to hear that they were

going to give him to me.

They told my older brother,

but he didn't want to take him.

He says "My dad this, my dad that"

But your dad is not here.

I'm the one who is with you now.

I think that I have to obey my aunt

because she got me out of the shelter.

I am taking a risk,

and this could get me in trouble.

Because if he fails in school,

they are going to call me.

I'm an immigrant too.

And he is registered with the state.

This call is from a federal prison.

Rebecca.

- Rebecca, how are you?

- Hello.

Well, not so good.

Yesterday, my sister Irene called me.

She was scolding me and saying

that you and I don't love our son anymore.

"She said," Your kid is doing very badly

in the USA,

and your husband is locked up."

I told her,

"I can't do anything about it."

"I never should have let

my son go," I told her.

I dreamed the day before yesterday

and again last night

that we drowned in a river.

And I said to myself, "Better go back."

Huh?

That doesn't

mean we are going to drown in a river.

It doesn't matter.

If I'm deported, I'll bring Emilio back.

Rebecca, I'll talk to you later

because the officer is here,

and he doesn't want me to talk.

Oh, yeah.

Say hi to our

boys and give them a big kiss from me.

Take care, my love.

Put it inside.

Eric

always pray for your dad.

Yes.

Hopefully, he will be allowed to stay

in the United States.

He is in a place

where he is waiting to see

if they'll send him back here

or let him stay there.

But we'll keep praying, like I said.

- Understand?

- Uh-huh.

Here's your lunch.

I'll bring more tortillas.

This year, I couldn't

send my two kids to school

because we didn't have the money.

If he could work,

then it would be different.

He could send me money.

But he is locked up.

It's difficult because my husband

has been locked up for so long.

And my son is already there.

I would like the president, or whoever,

to do me the favor

of reuniting my son with his father.

That is what I want. What I wish for!

But I don't know what I can do.

If there is

one thing that holds you together,

it is family. Your children.

We came from Honduras together,

and we entered at different times, but

now the four us are all here.

Whoa!

Let's see what address we'll give them,

but it has to be a valid one.

I guess

That's what we were told.

So, if we go live in a trailer,

let's give the address of that trailer.

Yeah, wherever we end up living.

And where is that?

In God's name, whatever happens, happens.

And this is how they come

and take both of us.

If they don't find me, they'll find you.

When you are here by yourself,

you can survive on instant soup,

but not with your family here.

I spent Friday and Saturday with them

and started to work on Monday.

Since that day, I haven't stopped working.

When I started this job,

there was a man from Mexico

who was staring at me

and my ankle bracelet,

and he fearfully asked me what it was.

I told him that I'm an immigrant

who came in with my young son,

and they put this bracelet on me.

"Oh. I thought you were a criminal,"

he said.

No, just an immigration problem.

Imagine, my son.

He is three years old.

Why did my son need to spend 40 days

without me?

And without his mom?

It defies logic.

He acted strange when he came out.

When I saw him for the first time

he just stood still.

Like this.

He just breathed.

He didn't speak to me at all

for a long time.

Then he spoke to me.

He was nervous.

He was taught some things by force.

Because he did not know how

to use the bathroom.

When he asks for things,

he raises his hand.

At night, sometimes at night,

he wakes up crying,

like he is afraid.

Mommy, let's go home.

We spent so much money to get here.

And, now, we are waiting

to see what happens with us.

The process scares me at times

because I have an order of deportation.

I could be deported at any time.

Every meeting I go to with ICE,

I'm filled with fear.

I'm afraid they will say,

"That's it. You're going to be deported."

They know exactly what's going on.

And the thing is,

if they don't report,

they don't get that work authorization.

That work authorization

opens up doors for benefits,

and that's why they report.

If they don't report,

they're not in compliance.

If they're not in compliance,

they're not entitled to work.

So, it's the carrot that we dangle

to make sure that these people report.

If we don't dangle that carrot,

they won't come in.

We'd have less people coming in.

Son, it's time to go.

No!

No, what?

No.

Not again Hey, hey!

Yerin!

I want to comply

with what ICE is asking me.

I want to be responsible.

The truth is that I'm afraid.

We go like lambs to the slaughterhouse.

How'd you come

to the United States? Do you remember?

- You were probably really young.

- Yeah, six months old.

You were six months old.

Been coming for a while now.

I think that things changed, too,

once Trump came in too, right?

It's changed for people

that are here illegally,

like, that haven't committed any crimes,

for sure.

They're under a lot of scrutiny, but

I was here with an Indian lady last time

who didn't have any criminal charge,

anything like that,

- and

- We took her in?

- They took her that day.

- Oh, yeah.

- We're not

- That same day I was here.

She said she had

a little small business here,

nobody back in India,

no crimes committed here.

Yeah, they want to get rid of everybody,

I guess.

I don't make this decision,

other people authorize it.

Okay?

You have a lawyer, right?

Yes. Since 2013.

What has your lawyer done?

She said that the case was on stand-by

and that she was going to wait

until something came up.

Did your lawyer show you any proof

of what she did for you?

No. She said she sent

the asylum application

but I never saw it.

Because in our system,

we don't see anything.

- She didn't do anything?

- We have nothing.

There is nothing in the system.

That's why I'm asking you.

So, we're just waiting to hear

what the supervisor says.

Oh, okay.

Based on what I've

seen right now, he's a non-crim.

So, this is stuff he's carrying.

Pay stubs, pictures.

- Saying he's a police officer.

- This is me.

A police officer in my country

for eight years.

- Yeah.

- I mean, I think

I mean, especially if he's fighting crime

in El Salvador,

and he's running from the gangs

and whatever

Whoever he's running from.

I actually met Officer Perez

over the phone.

I was in a g*ng unit up in New York,

gathering information. TIVE

I happened to call El Salvador,

and Officer Perez picked up the phone.

"He told me," I have to walk away

from where I'm at

because I don't want

other officers to hear me talk

because, you know, if you know my country,

there's a lot of

"things that go on here."

He starts giving me information

about g*ng activity in his country.

Names of gangs in El Salvador

and what to look out for.

You know, signs up in New York.

He provided a lot of that.

One of the conversations

I remember having with him,

he was telling me

that he had to leave the country

because he was getting threatened

by g*ng members

that they were gonna k*ll his family.

Four years later,

I get a call. "I'm in the States."

Sure enough, he tells me he had to

leave the country because of the threats.

He wanted to come to a country where

his family was not gonna be in jeopardy.

Yeah, I was nine years old,

and everything moved very quickly.

I remember my mom waking me up

at three in the morning

telling me,

"Grab your things. We're leaving."

And then, before we knew it,

we were in Mexico,

walking these long trails,

going up mountains.

Then when we got to the river,

which is the Rio Grande,

being put on top of my mom on a tire,

telling us to be quiet

because there's people around.

Just being shoved into the US.

I'm, like, you know, undocumented.

I don't have DACA or anything like that,

so

In high school,

you don't really talk about those things.

It's kind of like a private thing.

Um

No one knows.

I just keep everything

to myself, basically.

He was here ill*gal. I know that.

But he was here ill*gal because

he had to do what anybody would do

for his family.

This guy was a cop.

He comes here and becomes a plumber,

a good plumber at that.

I mean, for God's sakes,

this guy is even paying taxes.

If there's somebody that

should be in this country legally,

it should be him.

You got Rodriguez's number?

I don't have my phone on me.

No? Okay.

- There's nothing in here saying that…

- Give me a second.

There was some mention of a 589 file

a few years ago.

Nothing was heard of it.

The reason I felt

there was some relevance

was because he has been

getting work authorizations,

which typically comes

when there's something pending.

Anyway, I am gonna

execute a triple four,

because I'm gonna take that 589

and what he's saying

about him being a cop in El Sal

as his way of saying, "I'm fearful."

Now, my question to you is,

how do you want to roll with this?

Do you want to still take him into custody

and let it get adjudicated quickly

in custody?

I'm good with it.

Let's do it.

Okay.

All right, so we discussed what

You know, what's going on.

You currently have

a final order of deportation

that ICE is going to execute against you.

We vetted your case.

I understand that you have a fear

of returning to your country.

We will execute the fear claim form,

but right now, I need you to stand up,

take everything

out of your pockets, please.

- Belt, keys, shoelaces

- I don't have a belt.

All right. Over here.

Stand against the wall, turn around.

- Okay.

- Okay.

Follow me.

Hello. It's me, love.

They are keeping me here.

It's the law, Xiomara.

I know my life is in danger,

but what can I do

if they decide to send me back?

Let me speak to Vladi.

What are you going to tell them

when they start asking about me?

What are you going to say?

That's why you have to tell them.

You have to tell them.

You can't hide this from them.

Let me speak to Vladi.

Hello.

I need you to do me a favor, you hear?

I'm in a serious situation.

Yeah. Yeah.

Take care of your sister and brother.

Yeah.

Write this down.

Before the 13th,

you have to make the car payment.

Carlos!

Okay. Okay.

Okay. Take care and take care of the kids.

There is an inherent kind of

I won't say joy,

but satisfaction,

in moving some of the people that I know,

regardless of what public sentiment is,

don't belong in this country.

"Folks say," How could you do that?

How could you do this?

How could you remove people?"

I say, "I don't remove anybody.

The judge does."

I'm just, for all intents and purposes,

I'm the taxi driver that takes them

from point A to point B.

Or I'm the person

that's gonna execute that order.

Everybody has to have their due process.

They have to go before the judge.

"When the judge says," Mr. Smith,

you are being ordered, remove

and deported,"

at the same time,

we're being ordered,

as an agency,

to execute the judge's decision.

People have certain expectations,

certain assumptions

when you use the word "court" and "judge"

in the United States

that judges are protected

and that they are to make

independent decisions

based on the facts of the case

and law of the case.

That's what judges are supposed to do.

That's what a court is supposed to do.

But immigration court

and immigration judges are not like that.

We do not have the protection

of being an independent court.

We do not have the protection

of being independent judges.

We are in a law enforcement agency.

We are situated

in the Department of Justice,

and our boss so, we're being hired,

we're being reviewed,

and we're being fired

by the US Attorney General,

who is our number one,

prime federal prosecutor.

Immigration courts are not nearly

as independent as they should be

because while you might assume that

they'd be part of the judicial branch,

immigration courts

are actually part of the executive branch.

Specifically, they're run by the DOJ,

making them subject

to shifting political priorities.

So, for instance, right now,

the boss of all these judges is this man,

Jeff Sessions.

For those that continue to seek

improper and ill*gal entry

into this country, be forewarned.

This is a new era.

This is the Trump era.

This administration has

done what I call weaponizing

the immigration courts

to use them as a tool of enforcement.

In 2018, the department did something

that had never been done before,

and that is put production quotas

on immigration judges.

On a daily basis, we come to work,

and there's this dashboard

on our computer.

It has these dials

telling you your numbers

per day per quarter.

How would you like to be trying

to plead for your life

in immigration court

while the judge is looking at

a little dashboard that says

he or she is in the red zone

because they haven't completed

enough cases this month?

If a judge doesn't fulfill

the numerical quotas

or gets too many cases returned,

they could be fired.

So, for the first time,

the objective of the system seems

to have become

to produce more orders of removal,

not necessarily more justice.

I hear from the judges

that they're scared.

They're scared to make a decision

that they do not think

the administration wants them to make,

even though they believe the law

would require them to do otherwise.

There is no more priorities,

so he is a priority.

- I understand.

- All right?

Do you understand what's going on?

Yeah, whatever your decision is,

all right. It's fine.

It's not whatever my decision is.

Every decision is above me.

I'm not a judge.

My job is just to remove you.

It's in my title: Deportation Officer.

You know, it's not personal.

It's business.

That's the way I see it.

When people just say that,

"You don't know what

some of these people are going through,"

I say, "I beg to differ.

I have two relatives that were deported.

"They came here as young children."

I saw my grandmother go through it,

and my family went through it.

All right. Turn around.

This call is from a federal prison.

Rebecca, how are you?

It's me, your half orange.

My half orange. I wonder, "Who's that?"

It's eight months separation.

This is not for me anymore.

Are they going to deport you?

If I stop asking for asylum,

I can be deported.

But if I ask for asylum,

they will leave me here.

I have to fight my case from inside here.

Here inside the jail.

I cannot stand being locked up anymore.

I want to go and be with our kids.

What can I do for them here, locked up?

I prefer a thousand times to be deported.

Come home.

Do you know why I wanted

my husband to cross the border?

Because my mother's eyes are bad.

She needs an operation.

That's why I accepted him leaving.

Careful, son.

I would love to have a well at the house.

And to have a shower to bathe in.

That's what I want.

To have my own house,

my own refrigerator.

You can imagine the rest

That's what I want.

This is my life.

My life since I grew up.

It is different there.

I was happy there.

We were a whole family.

My brothers, we were all together.

Here, I have nobody.

At first, I was happy when I came to live

with my aunt, but not anymore.

I don't feel happy at all.

I used to dream about growing up.

I wanted things.

But I don't think the same way anymore.

It has changed.

I wish my brothers were here.

Yes.

It's hard to not have your parents

and to be alone.

My dad is here, but he's not here.

Can I see the photos?

This is Emilio.

My dad with his p*stol.

- That's Dad?

- Yes.

He's so high! Look, Mom.

When he was a soldier.

On October 6th,

we celebrate our 15th anniversary.

Fifteen years of being with him.

He is loving, kind,

understanding.

He understands me.

I love him, and I miss him.

Mm-hmm.

- Hello.

- Hello.

Milo, is that you?

Yes, it's me.

I wanted to talk to you,

but whenever you are with your aunt,

we can't talk.

I don't want to be with my aunt here.

I don't want to be with my aunt anymore.

She's always yelling at me.

We've been separated for eight months.

Do you want us to reunite

and be deported together?

Or what do you want?

I don't want to go back.

You don't want to return to Guatemala?

No. I don't want to return.

Do you want to stay with your aunt,

and I leave?

You need to make a decision.

The decision is in your hands.

Can you wait so you can

be reunited with me?

What?

Wait, then,

so you can be reunited with me.

My son tells me

"Don't ask for your deportation, Daddy."

I would have asked for my deportation,

but because of my son,

I did not ask for it.

He skips school.

He gets into fights.

The school social worker said to me,

"You are at risk of losing your daughter."

Why? Because of him.

Before anything happens,

you should call a lawyer

"so he can go back to Guatemala."

What would you do

if you were in my position?

Tell me.

I'm going to talk to a lawyer

and tell him that I can't be responsible

for you anymore.

If he can fix your papers,

you either go to Guatemala

or back to the children's shelter.

Those are your options.

Hello.

- My son?

- Yes, it's me.

- How are you?

- Bad.

- Very bad.

- Bad?

- Why, my son?

- I want to come back to Guatemala.

- What?

- I want to come back to Guatemala.

Are you going to come back?

Yes.

Why? What happened?

What did they do to you?

Nothing. I'm going to come back.

Any problem with your aunt?

Is your aunt there?

Yes, everyone is here.

My God.

If they want to send me to the shelter,

let them.

I can't hear you.

Are you going to the shelter

where your father is?

I'll go to a shelter again

if they send me.

My God.

What happened, my son?

What happened?

What did they do to you?

I'm coming back to Guatemala,

and that's it.

Leave the room if you can't speak.

Did they tell you anything about your dad?

Nothing.

He is not going to get out of there.

Something happened to you?

- No.

- Just tell me.

Oh, my God, my dear son.

Come back, my son.

You are my son, and you will be with me

even if we only eat beans and salt.

But I'll have all three of you with me.

Do you hear me?

Okay.

Many children want to be there,

where you are.

But it's your decision.

Yes, we are very happy!

We are walking on air!

We can't believe it.

Finally, they removed the bracelet!

What would the ankle bracelet say?

"Low battery."

"Low battery. Recharge the unit."

We had it on for five months.

My feet are free at last.

My high heels are going to

look good again.

Who said so?

We need to do something.

We gotta celebrate, like…

To show how happy we are.

So emotional.

What's that?

It's a message from immigration.

- Huh?

- What is that?

- Do you think it's to locate us?

- No, I don't think so.

But it doesn't say anything.

- Locating.

- Look at the messages.

Do you think we are being registered

- in the system?

- Probably.

Fear always exists here.

They can tell you everything

is going to be all right,

and the truth is that it scares me

because I really don't know

what is going to happen tomorrow.

We are living from one day to the next

with complete uncertainty.

And I see how people long

to be in the United States.

They dream of being here.

At first, I dreamed of coming

to help the family,

give the children an education,

to help their mother.

But

here, one sees

that the reality is very different.

I think the American dream

sometimes becomes a nightmare.

What a contradiction.

My dad,

he told me my job was to go study,

to go to school and be a good person.

I guess I'll pull out all my savings,

try and help the family for a bit.

Quit school.

That's saved money right there.

Selling my car.

I haven't been

seeing my mom a lot lately.

She's been working a lot too.

I don't think we'll be

able to continue paying

such expensive rent

for the next year or two.

I don't know what

the future will be for us.

I lost a lot of faith

in the US government.

He had a work permit, a license

He went to ICE to report on himself.

He did everything you had to do.

You did everything the way

we wanted you to do,

and then they're just like,

"Sorry, but it's still a no."

The problem is the system and the laws.

It's not the officer's fault.

Many people are trying to help,

but their hands are tied.

Not everybody has a bad heart.

Not everybody.

The system is what damages everything.

The baby stays outside.

It is creating chaos.

People look at you and say,

"Get out, you immigrant!"

In reality,

the only true Americans

are the Native Americans.

We're all invaders of this country.

All of us.

If you ask for a humanitarian visa

in my country,

they will never give it to you.

There is no option to come legally

like they want us to.

I think it

might have been better for him to stay

without papers.

He didn't do that,

because he believed

that since wasn't a criminal

this couldn't happen

because he was following the rules.

But now I think it's better

to stay like he was,

undocumented forever.

There are times when yes,

I'll look at a case and I'll go,

"Maybe we shouldn't have done that,"

or "I would have done it differently."

In my career,

I have second-guessed a lot of things.

There are some cases where, yeah,

you know immediately, it's

it can be morally wrong or objectionable,

but in the grand scheme of things,

you know, as harsh as it may sound,

the government didn't hire me

for my moral views.

We used to do a lot of things as a family,

like go out to eat. And now

we don't really leave the house really

to go anywhere.

And he used to always,

like, come to my school events.

Now it's just my mom,

and I see other kids with their, like

both of their parents,

and it's sad.

Yeah, I just tell them he's working.

And most of them

won't understand the feeling.

I'm an automatic operator from jail.

I have a call from

Bernardo Hernandez Arévalo.

…a detainee at.

El Paso Processing Center.

- Hello.

- Yes.

Tell me, my love.

I'm calling to say hello

and to tell you that there's a possibility

that I will be released.

There is a possibility for you

to stay in the United States?

I have a chance of staying here.

That is good news. Be strong.