- 7 months ago
After Zero Tolerance: The story of a Honduran family's struggle to reunite after being separated at the Mexico-United States border three years earlier.
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02:31I began talking to Anabelis in the summer of 2021.
02:44It was three years since she was separated from her daughter Hennessy's and sent back
02:58to Honduras.
02:59I was looking into the stories of families who had been separated at the border under
03:05the Trump administration's tough immigration policies, like zero tolerance.
03:12Many families had been reunited, but hundreds of parents like Anabelis were still living apart
03:18from their kids, looking for a way to get back to them.
03:21When they took care of her daughter, when they took care of her daughter, when they took care of her daughter,
03:28they told me that the police didn't accept them.
03:29How do you want a mother to stay happy after they get out of her daughter?
03:33And she told me that she didn't want to cry.
03:38It was the only thing we could do was cry.
03:42And she told me that she was in the middle of her daughter.
03:49And she told me that she was in the middle of her daughter.
03:54When I first met Hennessy's more than a year ago, she was living in Kentucky with her aunt Xiomara.
04:19...
04:20La endira ïżœiverais
04:22a ì ernic girl
04:24Dijuno FernĂĄndez
04:25dice, tĂa y mi mami cuando va a venir.
04:27Va a venirle digo yo, nada mĂĄs que espere pero ella comprende muchas cosas, parec que fuera Ă©lle adulta,
04:38pero sĂ comprende bastante.
04:40Me dijiste que estabas con tu mamå, y un señor la separó.
04:49Platicame otra vez de eso.
04:51Cuando me separaron de mi mamĂĄ, me mandĂł a mĂ a unas diferentes familias,
04:59que cada familia que me mandaban me quedaba por unos dĂas.
05:03Y despuĂ©s me mandaron a la Ășltima familia.
05:07Y despuĂ©s, cuando ya se acabĂł el dĂa de la tarde con esa familia,
05:11una muchacha que se llama BĂĄrbara me vino a traer y me llevĂł al aeropuerto.
05:19Pero estabas bien chiquita. ÂżA poco te acuerdas de todo eso?
05:21TenĂa seis años.
05:25ÂżRegresaron a tu mami a Honduras? ÂżY quĂ© te decĂa tu mamĂĄ?
05:29Que me querĂa mucho y que dijo que me iba a volver a ver.
05:34ÂżSĂ?
05:35Un dĂa yo le hablĂ© llorando porque no la podĂa mirar.
05:41¿Y esa vez que lloraste por qué lloraste?
05:44Porque mi mamĂĄ ya habĂa llegado a Honduras y yo pensaba que ella todavĂa estaba...
05:49¿Por qué pensabas que estaba aqu�
05:53Porque yo pensé primero, no me dijeron que le iba a ir a Honduras.
05:58Solo me dijeron que ella se tenĂa que ir a un lado.
06:02Pero no me dijeron.
06:05ÂżY todavĂa no sabĂan que tu mami ya habĂa regresado?
06:08Yo no sabĂa, pero ahora sĂ sĂ©.
06:10Genesys was held in government custody for about a month before being released to go live with her father, José.
06:20Who had come to the U.S. a few years earlier.
06:24They were together for seven months while Anabelis was trying to figure out what to do.
06:30But soon, José was deported.
06:34Pero en eso de que José fue detenido, ya todo cambió.
06:42Y ya pues nos quedamos pausados, solo los dos en la casa.
06:52Para mĂ no habĂa tranquilidad porque yo querĂa estar con ella.
06:57Porque no me querĂa dar por vencido porque no querĂa regresar a Honduras.
07:01Porque yo salĂ con ella de mi casa y regresar sola.
07:06Eso era lo que yo, la mente, solo eso me daba.
07:15Lo que me interesaba era estar con ella.
07:18Para cuidarla era lo que yo querĂa.
07:21By the time I was talking to Anabelis and Genesys,
07:30lawyers and activists were already working to try to help reunite families like them
07:35that were still separated.
07:37No hate, no fear.
07:40The friends are welcome here.
07:41No hate, no fear.
07:44Reboot, reboot, reboot.
07:46Resistance is not enough.
07:49Reboot, reboot.
07:49The ACLU's LegalEarn led the legal effort.
07:54He was behind the lawsuit demanding an end to the separations.
07:59And in 2018, the Trump administration was ordered to reunite families.
08:05Amazingly, they didn't even keep records.
08:08When we wanted to reunite the families,
08:11we asked the administration, the Trump administration,
08:14for a list of the names.
08:16At one point they said,
08:17it will take two years for us to recreate the list.
08:21We will have to go manually through thousands of files
08:24because we simply didn't keep track.
08:27I mean, that is beyond shocking.
08:31After Galern's lawsuit,
08:33many parents who were still in the U.S. got their children back.
08:37But those who were already out of the country,
08:40like Anabelis,
08:41were left waiting.
08:42The Trump administration said to the judge,
08:48well, if the parents are already out of the country,
08:51if they're going to be part of the case,
08:52we are not going to find these parents.
08:59Galern Hall put together a network of attorneys and investigators
09:03who spent years scouring Central America and elsewhere,
09:07tracking down hundreds of parents
09:09who had been deported without their kids.
09:12There were about 1,000 families who were deported.
09:22So some of the parents are currently separated
09:25with a child in the United States
09:28and the parent back in the country of origin.
09:31And those parents want to come back to the United States
09:33to be with their kids.
09:35I spoke to Kathleen Caron,
09:37a human rights lawyer
09:39who helped in the search for the parents.
09:42When they were found as part of the process,
09:45they were given the option.
09:46Do you want your child to be returned to you
09:48or do you want your child to remain in the United States?
09:50So it was a very difficult choice
09:53these parents had to take.
09:56That was the kind of choice
09:58that Anabelis and Xiomara struggled with.
10:02Anabelis wanted to send her to the country,
10:07but I didn't want.
10:09I told her that no,
10:11because the child here had more future than there,
10:15because there are a lot of things that happen.
10:18So,
10:19was your job to convince her
10:20that she would stay better here?
10:21It costed,
10:22because she cried,
10:23she said,
10:23and she said,
10:39But we didn't send her.
10:41It was a difficult decision for you, isn't it?
10:43Yes, I even cried about seeing her.
10:47But I didn't want her to take her home.
10:50One day you'll come back and see her.
10:56We spent all this time in suspense,
11:00just giving her time to see what happened.
11:05Because they said they were going to send me.
11:09There were many inconveniences.
11:12And one and another thing didn't happen.
11:21For now, three and a half years ago,
11:25speaking with lawyers,
11:28they kept me with hope.
11:31In early 2021, they got their chance.
11:40In a move to reverse what he calls the national shame
11:44of the previous administration, President Joe Biden...
11:46Over three years have passed since the Trump administration
11:48started separating thousands of migrant children from their...
11:51Today, the president established a border task force
11:53that aims to reunite hundreds...
11:55Two weeks after taking office,
11:57the Biden administration formed a task force
12:00that would help bring parents back to the U.S.
12:04With the first action today,
12:06we're going to work to undo the moral and national shame
12:09of the previous administration that literally, not figuratively,
12:12ripped children from the arms of their families,
12:14the mothers and fathers at the border,
12:17and with no plan, none whatsoever,
12:20to reunify the children who are still in custody
12:23and their parents.
12:27The Department of Homeland Security
12:29was running the task force.
12:32Michelle Brané was put in charge.
12:35This really is an unprecedented operation,
12:38to be looking at harm that was done,
12:42and going back and really looking for the people involved
12:47and reunifying those families in order to provide them
12:50with the ability to be together and work forward
12:53from the harm that was inflicted.
12:56Anabel y San Jose were among the first parents
13:00to be put on the task force list.
13:03There was an attorney who contacted me
13:05and that they were going to return to the U.S.
13:10to meet us with Genesis.
13:12And now, finally, we're at the last one.
13:18Genesis, how do you feel?
13:21Because we'll see us soon.
13:23Because we're going to be together.
13:25I'm happy. I'm happy.
13:28I'm happy.
13:30But August passed, and no reunion took place.
13:37Every adult has one in Honduras.
13:42I talked to Ann Garcia, a pro bono lawyer
13:45who was helping the family navigate the bureaucracy
13:48in both the U.S. and Honduras.
13:50That's what we thought.
13:51We thought she would be back, you know, a month ago.
13:54But sometimes, you know, you just get these, you just get, you know,
13:59these issues just, like, present themselves.
14:02In Anabelis's case, she, at this point, she has her ID.
14:07The holdup really is with the Honduran's government's processing
14:12of her husband's ID and passport.
14:16Of course, he had an ID, but there was an error on it,
14:20a spelling error.
14:22That process has been very frustrating, to be completely honest.
14:29Sometimes, I call her mother of an accident.
14:31And my mother, I call her aunt.
14:36I think I'm confused because she has lived with my aunt
14:41and with my mother.
14:46Oh, it's cold.
14:48And I was thinking, I said, I'm here with her,
14:52but when Anna comes, she won't be with me.
14:57And she's the joy from here, from the house.
15:09Sometimes, I was thinking, I said,
15:11I'd better not come.
15:13I said, I'm with me.
15:15No, no.
15:16No, no, no.
15:17Ella es mĂĄs...
15:18Ella necesita a su mamĂĄ y a su papĂĄ juntos.
15:23¿Y qué es lo que cada cuånto viene Génesis aqu�
15:26Los sĂĄbados que la trae.
15:29Porque dice, tĂa, voy a trabajar con usted,
15:31entonces, yo me la trae.
15:33A veces se queda en el carro ahĂ, en el carro del patrĂłn.
15:38or if not, in my car, or if not,
15:41come here with us.
15:44What I tell you is to be someone in life.
15:46I don't want you to work like me.
15:49You study so that you have a good future,
15:56because look at how I work.
15:59And why do you believe?
16:00Because I didn't study.
16:02All right, in Honduras, no, no,
16:07no, it can't reach your dreams,
16:09because it's very difficult.
16:11But here, yes, here, yes.
16:18Over several months, Anabely San Jose
16:21made multiple trips to the city of San Pedro Sula
16:24to try to fix the spelling error in Jose's passport.
16:32You think when you start a case,
16:42and you hope really that it will take no time at all
16:46for it to be approved,
16:47certainly in conversation with these families,
16:50I try to sort of make them aware
16:52that the process could take several months,
16:54that there's no guarantee that they'll be approved,
16:57but the government looks at each of these cases individually.
17:01And so I think, you know, of course,
17:04Geneseez, she was put in a position
17:08where she had to be resilient.
17:10Hola, mami.
17:11And she was.
17:12Hola.
17:13She went to school.
17:14Grisela?
17:15Hmm?
17:17She got used to her new life.
17:19Te queremos mucho y te extrañamos.
17:24Used to being mothered by phone and by video calls
17:29from Anabelis, who was in Honduras.
17:32Esperamos ya que unas dos, tres semanas,
17:36pues, podamos dar contas lo que hemos deseado
17:39durante todos estos tres años.
17:44Yo también extraño.
17:48DĂgale a mi papi que yo tambiĂ©n lo quiero.
17:52SĂ, Ă©l sabe que se lo quiere mucho.
17:57ÂżCĂłmo te sientes cuando hablas con tu mamĂĄ?
18:02Me siento triste porque a veces me dice que la voy a volver a ver
18:08otra vez, pero no creo.
18:13¿Qué no crees?
18:14Que venga.
18:15ÂżNo crees que vaya a venir?
18:18¿Por qué?
18:19Porque dijeron que en agosto iban a venir y no vinieron.
18:27Por eso.
18:28Por eso.
18:29¿Por qué?
18:31¿Por qué?
18:33¿Por qué?
18:34¿Por qué?
18:38Once José got his passport corrected,
18:41things happened quickly.
18:43Within weeks, he and Anabelis were told to come to the capital,
18:47Tegucigalpa, to be photographed and fingerprinted.
18:51Ah, well, I was there, doing dinner, and suddenly, the call from the girl, and I grabbed
19:05it suddenly, because I didn't think I would go out soon.
19:11The lawyer told us that we would come from a single one, with bags and everything, and
19:14we were ready to travel to the United States.
19:20Like other families being reunited through the Biden Administration's Task Force, Anavelis
19:25and Jose were given documents allowing them to live and work in the U.S. for three years,
19:31while applying for asylum or some other more permanent status.
19:37We really were looking for what we could do within our legal authorities to provide families
19:42with some way to be reunified physically, not just in their home country, but here in the
19:47United States, because in many of these cases, the children are here in the United States,
19:51and the parent has been removed.
19:54And in doing so, we decided upon parole, humanitarian parole, and parole in place.
20:00What that provides is legal authority for a recipient to be in the country during a stated period
20:08of time.
20:09What happens to these families after that, after that limit?
20:11So at the end of three years, families can request an extension of parole, so that will
20:16be available to families.
20:18And in the meantime, we encourage Congress and have asked Congress to help us in providing
20:24for some legal status for these families, and we welcome their action on that.
20:30For Anabelis and Jose, it had been nearly six months since they started their application
20:40to come to the U.S.
20:44By December, they were set to leave.
20:47And at the same time it was hard to leave.
20:52It took a while, it was hard to leave.
20:56And the same as with Jose's parents' parents.
21:00It was hard, because they were like other parents for me.
21:10We have a lot of pressure here.
21:16In the United States,
21:18we don't know how long it's going to have to not see it.
21:22It's worse than us, we are united.
21:40They headed to San Pedro Sula to wait for their flight to the United States.
21:50But right now, I'm nervous.
21:55Yes, because it's something planned and emotional.
22:01Well, yes, I'm nervous.
22:05Hello, dear.
22:07Nancy,
22:11levĂĄntate.
22:35I'm afraid that something might happen to them,
22:40and they might not come.
22:43When they get to the airport,
22:45they might send them back to the nurse.
22:49Here we wait for them.
22:54Here, in this same space.
22:56In this same space.
22:58In this same space.
23:00Ah.
23:02It's 5 and 3.
23:05It's 5 and 3.
23:11I don't know if it's going to happen to me like this.
23:17Or, I don't know, to react differently.
23:22I don't know.
23:24Emily, touch my heart.
23:26It's beeping soon.
23:28I don't know if you can feel it, but...
23:31I can't.
23:34Oh, my God.
23:37There they are.
23:40Come, come, come.
23:41In the caravan, slow.
23:43Giovanni.
23:44Let's go.
23:58My child, don't forget it.
24:00My child, don't forget it.
24:04How are you, baby?
24:10You know?
24:13He's gonna be with us.
24:17Where are you?
24:19Now you're going to be with us.
24:29Look, he's already there.
24:31Yeah, he's already there.
24:33He's already there.
24:47Seven months later, in the summer of 2022,
24:55I went back to Kentucky to see how the family was adjusting to their new life.
25:17When I teach her English,
25:34I tell her to repeat the words without me,
25:37and she does them good.
25:47Tell me about the work you're doing.
25:49What are you doing?
25:51We're going to several jobs.
25:55We're going days to the carpenteria,
25:59concrete,
26:01and days to the painting.
26:04I work from Wednesday to Wednesday,
26:08because on Saturday I'm not going to be with Genesis.
26:14I have a happy end,
26:17but we don't know what will happen.
26:20But as I focus on what I'm living with,
26:26I'm with them.
26:29It's the most important thing for us,
26:32not to be separated.
26:34The debt I have with Xiomara,
26:37and I think that I can never pay,
26:42is to take care of Genesis.
26:45She took care of me as if I had been the daughter of her.
26:49I need to pay,
26:51but thank God,
26:54they're already with their parents,
26:56which is the most important thing for them.
26:58As of November 2022,
27:01the Biden administration's task force
27:04had reunited more than 540 children with their parents.
27:08But hundreds still remain separated.
27:11I don't believe it.
27:13Sometimes I don't believe it,
27:15to be here.
27:16And I've cried,
27:17not of sadness,
27:18but that I feel like it's a lot of emotion.
27:21I feel like it's something incredible
27:26that I can be here
27:29and that we're here.
27:32and that's a great day.
27:34êœna says
27:50ç§ăăĄă« at least
27:52ç§ăăĄăźéèȘă
27:55For more on this and other Frontline programs,
28:11visit our website at pbs.org.
28:25Frontline's Crime Scene Bucha and After Zero Tolerance are available on Amazon Prime Video.
28:55Frontline's Crime Scene Bucha and After Zero Tolerance
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