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(53:38) loading Email thisE-Mail This FEATURED FROM THIS REPORT * October 19, 2011, 2:03 pmHow Much Sexual Abuse Gets “Lost in Detention”? * October 18, 2011, 7:54 pmMap: The U.S. Immigration Detention Boom * October 18, 2011, 7:53 pmCecilia Muñoz: “Even Broken Laws Have to be Enforced.” Roberto Suro: Obama’s Immigration Conundrum Obama is facing “quite a negative legacy on an issue that has cried out for policy-making,” says Suro, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the School of Policy, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California. Sheriff Mark Curran: Why He Changed His Mind About Secure Communities Curran, the Republican sheriff of Lake County, Ill., was initially onboard with the Obama administrations immigration program known as Secure Communities: “When you have local, state and federal law enforcement all sharing information, all working together, … that’s when we work best.” After seeing it in action, however, he’s become an outspoken critic. Why Three Governors Challenged Secure Communities Over the past year, three Democratic state governors — and Obama supporters — have attempted to pull out of the administration’s controversial Secure Communities program. Here’s why. THE LATEST New Immigration Detention Center Aims for a Less Prison-Like Feel March 14, 2012, 3:39 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett As part of their promise to overhaul the nation’s vast network of immigration detention centers, Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] … Continue reading → Is Immigration Program Hampering Investigation into School Abuse Scandal? February 13, 2012, 4:27 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett At least two families of students at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles — where in recent weeks two teachers … Continue reading → Is California the Next Secure Communities Battleground? February 9, 2012, 11:57 am ET · by Gretchen Gavett We’ve reported on the attempts by three states – New York, Illinois and Massachusetts — to challenge the Obama administration’s … Continue reading → GAO to Investigate Sexual Abuse at Immigration Detention Centers February 3, 2012, 11:34 am ET · by Gretchen Gavett The move comes after members of Congress petitioned the office to act, citing FRONTLINE’s “Lost in Detention.” Obama Administration Recommends Halting More than 1,600 Pending Deportations January 20, 2012, 2:56 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Back in August, the Obama administration announced it would begin reviewing 300,000 backlogged immigration cases in order to better identify … Continue reading → Members of Congress Urge Investigation into Sexual Abuse in Immigrant Detention Centers January 10, 2012, 2:01 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Citing our October film Lost in Detention, 30 members of Congress are pressing the Government Accountability Office to look into … Continue reading → Controversial “Secure Communities” Immigration Program Will Be Mandatory by 2013 January 9, 2012, 3:01 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett By 2013, states will have little choice but to comply with the Obama administration’s controversial Secure Communities immigration program, which collects … Continue reading → DHS to Begin Review of Deportation Cases November 17, 2011, 1:32 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Today, the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] is poised to begin streamlining its much-criticized deportation process, accelerating the court docket … Continue reading → Report: Deportation Efforts Still Broad, Uneven November 14, 2011, 5:49 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett In June, Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] chief John Morton sought to clarify the agency’s increasingly controversial deportation programs. ICE … Continue reading → Obama Official Under Fire After “Lost in Detention” Interview November 10, 2011, 12:59 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett The Obama administration’s immigration policies have outraged many Latino activists. And according to The Washington Post, one person in particular … Continue reading → Study: 5,100 Kids in Foster Care After Parents Deported November 3, 2011, 2:01 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett “Even if the [immigration] law is executed with perfection, there will be parents separated from their children,” White House Director … Continue reading → Why Did the Gov’t Make Secure Communities Mandatory? October 26, 2011, 3:29 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett In October 2010, during a press conference, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that the controversial immigration program known … Continue reading → Sec. Napolitano Questioned About “Lost in Detention” October 20, 2011, 2:11 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett “What is the Department of Homeland Security doing to ensure that immigration detainees are safe from sexual abuse, whether they’re … Continue reading → New Secure Communities Study Reveals Troubling Data October 19, 2011, 4:44 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Just yesterday, the Obama administration announced it had deported a record number of illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2011. But … Continue reading → Republican Candidates Take on Immigration October 19, 2011, 11:04 am ET · by Gretchen Gavett While our film Lost in Detention was airing last night, exploring the Obama administration’s controversial immigration policies, another debate was … Continue reading → Live Chat 1 p.m. ET: Detained in America October 18, 2011, 9:50 pm ET · by Nathan Tobey Read the full transcript of our live chat with Maria Hinojosa, producer Catherine Rentz and Univision’s Tifani Roberts about “Lost in Detention.” Roberto Suro: Obama’s Immigration Conundrum October 18, 2011, 7:53 pm ET Obama is facing “quite a negative legacy on an issue that has cried out for policy-making,” says Suro, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism and the School of Policy, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California. What Are Immigration Detainees’ Legal Rights? October 18, 2011, 7:53 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett How long can immigrants be held? Who are their advocates? We asked Mark Fleming, the national litigation coordinator for the National Immigration Justice Center, for some basic information about legal rights in the immigration detention system. Sheriff Mark Curran: Why He Changed His Mind About Secure Communities October 18, 2011, 7:51 pm ET Curran, the Republican sheriff of Lake County, Ill., was initially onboard with the Obama administrations immigration program known as Secure Communities: “When you have local, state and federal law enforcement all sharing information, all working together, … that’s when we work best.” After seeing it in action, however, he’s become an outspoken critic. Record Number of Illegal Immigrants Deported in 2011 October 18, 2011, 5:09 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Stay tuned for Lost in Detention, our upcoming film on the immigration debate. It airs tonight; check your local listings … Continue reading → Why Three Governors Challenged Secure Communities October 18, 2011, 1:28 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Over the past year, three Democratic state governors — and Obama supporters — have attempted to pull out of the administration’s controversial Secure Communities program. Here’s why. Obama Official Defends Controversial Immigration Policies October 14, 2011, 7:09 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Last year, the Obama administration set new records for detaining and deporting immigrants who were inside the U.S. illegally. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano recently indicated that the 2011 numbers will be even higher, resulting in the removal of more than 400,000 people. … Will Latino Voters Turn Their Back on Obama? October 13, 2011, 1:04 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Tonight, President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign strategist David Axelrod will attend a $250-a-person campaign event in Phoenix, Ariz. Sen. John McCain won the state in 2008, but Latinos now make up nearly 30 percent of Arizona voters, and Democrats are optimistic that recent redistricting efforts may play out in the president’s favor. Sec. Napolitano: Time for a “Reality Check” on Immigration October 6, 2011, 2:41 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Stay tuned for Lost in Detention, our upcoming film on the immigration debate. It airs Oct. 18; check your local … Continue reading → Univision Features “Lost in Detention” September 30, 2011, 1:10 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett Univision’s Aquí y Ahora aired a lengthy segment this week on our upcoming documentary Lost in Detention, which premieres Oct. … Continue reading → In the News: The Immigration Debate September 29, 2011, 4:31 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett We’re preparing for Lost in Detention — our upcoming film on immigration airing Oct. 18 (check local listings) — and … Continue reading → “Growing Up in the Shadows” of Illegal Immigration September 21, 2011, 2:49 pm ET · by Gretchen Gavett About 5.5 million children in the U.S. have a parent who is here illegally; some of these kids are as … Continue reading → * Credits * DVDs * Transcript * Journalistic Guidelines DISQUS... * <#> * Disqus <#> o Login <#> o About Disqus Glad you liked it. Would you like to share? Facebook Twitter * Share <#> * No thanks <#> Sharing this page … Thanks! Close <#> Comments for this page are closed. Showing 100 of 186 comments * * Maria Cuerda 13 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Slavery was the law, too. Does that make it right? I see that this show has brought out all the crazy, angry, ignorant people who get fat on the suffering and labor of others. You are unaware of structural economic policies that have caused people to go look for work in other countries because of the poverty our government tacitly and directly supports through our trade and economic policies. Not to mention the lack of democracy that concentrates wealth in the hands of a few. Thanks to the overthrow of progressives (Arbenz, et. al) dictators kept in power because it benefits business in the US, people live without options, without education for their children, without hope. And, when they take a step to better their lives they are faced with the stupidity and racism of Americans who are only looking for someone else to blame for their own woes. I look forward to the day when the agriculture, landscaping, construction, and meat processing industries crash and burn for lack of cheap labor and prices rise on basic commodities. Who'll be crying then? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338696908> o 158 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Paul Useyourbrain 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Dear Maria, "Slavery was the law, too." So what? That's a red herring if I ever saw one. Alcohol was illegal during prohibition. What does that have to do with illegal immigration? However, since you brought it up let me shoot it down. Slavery was the law. It was an immoral law. It was not "right" so the law was changed. It only took a complete schism of our country and hundreds of thousands of casualties to bring about this change. Immigration law is not immoral. Every country has the right to sovereign borders and to create the law necessary to control them. If you are not happy with the immigration laws here in the US you should work to change them. Until they are changed, however, they should be enforced. Our government is duty bound to enforce all the laws, and does not get to arbitrarily choose which laws it wants to enforce and which it doesn't. Finally, trying to make slavery analogous illegal immigration is offensive and farcical. People who are enslaved are enslaved by force not by choice. People who enter this country illegally make a conscience decision to do so. Illegal immigrants have a choice. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339485411> o in reply to Maria Cuerda <#comment-338696908> o 64 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Dana 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Sorry Maria but the using the analogy of a people forced to leave their homeland to become property of others, with no option of going back to their homeland, let alone earning resources to send back to their homeland in hopes of bettering the lives of their FAMILIES is in NO WAY the same as making a CHOICE to come to a LAND not your own and crying foul because it's not run the way you want it to be. If soooo many people realize the the structural economic polices ( IN THEIR HOMELAND) are wrong, then doesn't make sense to use those numbers to change it there, NOT imposing it in a land that is "NOT YOURS"? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338873362> o in reply to Maria Cuerda <#comment-338696908> o 48 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Punkin 4 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Sorry, but comparing these people to slaves or their situation to slavery is a huge stretch. Please don't equate the selling of human beings to people knowingly breaking the law or to people earning wages at awful jobs to people who didn't earn a dime (and who could be killed or raped on a whim). I look forward to people admitting that the illegals are breaking the law by coming here without papers. I also look forward to people on both sides coming together and discussing this problem without sob stories, fear tactics and hyperbole. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338763179> o in reply to Maria Cuerda <#comment-338696908> o 41 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * steviesteele 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Frederick Douglass broke the law, did you know that? He was a runaway slave. Remember a case called Dred Scott v. Sandford? That man was told he had no standing as a person to sue. I see a similarity between the issue of slavery and this issue. In fact, i see several. First of all, if we dehumanize people then we can easily categorize this problem as solvable through enforcement-only provisions or appeals to "rules of law." Secondly, just as the legal doctrine of slavery was on the wrong side of history, so is the current fanaticism of xenophobia lumping every person here who isn't a citizen as automatically suspect, and every person who may be present unlawfully as a criminal. Another similarity might be that if persons who are living here, like those who lived in territories in the southwest that were ceded in the 1800s, were automatically granted citizenship, like the Emancipation Proclamation and the 14th amendment did for blacks in 1863 and 1868, then the political landscape might change, imperiling those who would like to isolate our society from the rest of the world, keep the poor disenfranchised, and hold on to their power. In fact, even those who are citizens under operation of law, either by their birth here or naturalization, or derived from a U.S. citizen parent, aren't safe from the shrill cries of those who think there is a massive conspiracy behind human migration, which has been occurring around the world for millenia. US citizen children are callously derided and dehumanized as "anchor babies," except that "anchor" has a 21year-long tether and can't circumvent the inadmissibility problem of their parents entering without inspection. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339367581> o in reply to Punkin <#comment-338763179> o 22 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * fellowPilgrim 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Well put: In addition from my experience ministering to the undocumented community: undocumented status is often used by the U.S. citizen employers (also violating U.S. laws by hiring but whose chastisement does not include lack of habeus corpus rights or indefinite detention upon aprehension) to violate further U.S. laws e.eg . labor laws by paying sub-standard salaries or with-holding pay, avoiding occupational safety issues (especially when handling chemicals and antiquated machinery). In rural sites: requiring the workers to live, at times, in sub-standard housing without access to hygenic facilities, potable water, refigeration, cooking facilities as well as denying the employee health care access. Often transportation is not avaialble. Wages can be retained in the same way as in sweat-shops. Sexual and physical abuse is often a result of some out-of-sight-our-of-mind work places. The constant threat of "anonymous" outing of the workers is imminent. The rouse of ICE to secure collaboration by local law-enforcement, in order to find felons and dangerous criminals among the immigrant paopulation (a stat which is no mre than 20% by ICE's own figures) has caused a rise in unattended violent crime among the immigrant population where trust toward police from their own countries already mitigates trust in local US law enforcement. Undocumented status is a misdemeanor. Rape, abuse, murder are much more serious and control of which is unattainable if there is no access to prrotection. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-343436983> o in reply to steviesteele <#comment-339367581> o 8 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * ALL HUMANS DESERVE A VOICE! 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Maria is simply saying that people posting that these immigrants are ILLEGAL is not valid BECAUSE many things were once illegal... that doesnt mean they should remain ILLEGAL... it is ILLEGAL to kill someone because they 'cant prove themselves innocent' however IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME! here in our country by our high seated court system.... everything isnt so black and white... its unfortunate that some people live in this country yet are so far out of touch with REALITY of our everyday lives... o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339350361> o in reply to Punkin <#comment-338763179> o 13 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * NYC resident 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Good post, Maria. I am in total agreement. I am an 8th or 9th generation American and support the undocumented. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338846489> o in reply to Maria Cuerda <#comment-338696908> o 33 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * jskdn 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> So how is it that the person in the first comment shown is able to say, "I see that this show has brought out all the crazy, angry, ignorant people who get fat on the suffering and labor of others"? Is that some sort of prescience or does the website function with the same the level of journalistic integrity as the program did? Given the articles listed above, I suppose it's a rhetorical question. One would be hard pressed not to recognize Maria Hinojosa as an advocate. And when Frontline becomes a conduit for such advocacy, their journalistic integrity is undermined. Simply put, journalism can't serve two masters. Truth is paramount and how that effects various constituencies has to take a backseat. The conflation of sexual abuse of detainees in an effort to de-legitimize detainment itself is distracting and distorts the debate. I'm sure if Hinojosa had asked the the two token advocates of enforcement in the show, Mark Krikorian and Representative Lamar Smith, of their view of such abuse, there wouldn't have been any disagreement that it is unacceptable. What was ignored my Hinojosa, unsurprisingly, was why the taxpayers should be paying for extended detention instead of quickly removing those illegally in the country. Is it certainly helpful to the Obama adminstration's argument that Congress only provided enough funding for 400,000 removals to raise the costs. But paying for extended detention is real problem that will only get worse if it leads to success of those who fight removal. If illegal immigrants believe with some level of certainty that extending their detention only delays their inevitable removal, then they will likely choose accept quick removal. "Credibility in immigration policy can be summed up in one sentence: those who should get in, get in; those who should be kept out, are kept out; and those who should not be here will be required to leave." Barbara Jordan, who was chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform said that to Congress. It's amazing how absent such sensible and honest talk about illegal immigration has become among the elites, due in large part to how the elite media that abandons any sense of journalistic integrity and balanced debate when it comes to illegal immigration, Frontline included. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340916200> o in reply to Maria Cuerda <#comment-338696908> o 17 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * fellowPilgrim 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Blah! Blah! Blah! Blind eye to corruption and mis-management of some part of the elite you tout is often a cause for the incongruencies. Why have any dententionfacilities or re-patriation process at all. Set up a system that works -- but parts of society would take a cut in their market by un-contracting their private prison monopoly (but that's a different PBS muck-raking program that few notices a while back!) Back to yuou partially valuable point. It would be much more expedient and less costly for Congress to return immigration focused on work to the Labor Department (as it was before WWII) giving "x" number of work visas (need est. at 10m/yr) to the workers, "enemies of the state" immigration to the DOD, education interested immigrants to the Dept of Education, refugees and exiles to the State Department, Sports and Arts immigrants don't seem to have any trouble getting in (how does that work?!?!) and allwoing the super smart nerds and bean counters to be processed by special ops from Wall Street and Silicon Valley to continue bringining in their cronies as they will. The "haves" always seem to know how to get around the travesty of law. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-343443548> o in reply to jskdn <#comment-340916200> o 2 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Riain 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Maria- your comment literally makes no sense. Every country has laws about immigration. Mexico, believe it or not, has an entire process to become a legal immigrant and to apply for citizenship. They do not allow people to cross the border and stay based simply on their desire to remain in the country. The US is no different. We have an immigration process which is designed to give people from all across the world a chance to become legal residents of the US. It is unfair for people who are geographically closer to the US to skip the line and help themselves to residency. Illegal immigrants undercut the economic opportunities of legal immigrants and the working class by accepting sub-minimum wage jobs and dangerous working conditions. In recent years the US has focused its deportation efforts on convicted criminals. There is no roving immigration deportation agency in this country. The federal government is, if anything, extremely conservative about deportation. They deport only a small fraction of the illegal immigrants in the US who have been convicted or pled guilty in state courts. It is unreasonable to analogize people who were snatched from their homelands, shipped to foreign countries and sold as merchandise against their will to people who voluntarily decided to break the law and come to the US illegally. Comparing the struggles of blacks in the US to gain equal rights to the struggles of illegal immigrants seeking to buck the immigration process and avoid the consequences of their own intentional wrongful behavior is insulting. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-341808881> o in reply to Maria Cuerda <#comment-338696908> o 14 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Blu-ray 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I don't follow you. The landscaping and construction industries have already crashed and burned big time, especially in Las Vegas--and that's not because of the lack of cheap labor. It's because we're overbuilt. As for basic commodities---people are still filling their tanks with $4 a gallon gas and texting with their $200 iPhones and paying $4 for a frappucino at Starbucks--and nobody is crying yet except when they see their smartphone bill. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339001862> o in reply to Maria Cuerda <#comment-338696908> o 12 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * JM 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I have to agree with Maria. The reason there are many undocumented migrants in this country is because of the economic policies that the United States has forced upon other nations. Nowadays, Americans are complaining that the jobs are being shipped off to China and India. This notion of having jobs shift to other countries is the same reason to why people migrate here in the first place. But I have to add that Latino communities have always existed way before the United States was even created. Many Mexican Americans would agree with "I did not come to the United States, the United States came to me." States such as California, New Mexico, and Texas, have always had Latino roots way before these regions became a part of the US. The only reason why there is such a fuss over immigration is because the Latino community is growing faster than any other community and our culture, regardless of whether you are from here or from there, will always unite the Latino population. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-349755877> o in reply to Maria Cuerda <#comment-338696908> o 4 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN 20 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Currently watching the Lost in Detention show about ILLEGAL ALIENS. I notice that except for the beginning of the show when the narrator used the word illegally, every time since, the narrator, or the hostess used the words "unauthorized" or "undocumented." QUIT SUGARCOATING IT! If they are here ILLEGALLY, then they are BREAKING THE LAW...Get them out. I have no sympathy for the sob stories you portrayed in this show. The reason we have the problem that we have is because this issue was not dealt with sternly early on, and it is always more difficult to regain ground that has been lost. The kids of illegals are part of the collateral damage, but that IS NOT the fault of this country. It is the consequence of their parents who CHOSE to do some illegal - be in this country AGAINST THE LAW! If I, as an American citizen break the law, I am arrested, and if found guilty of my crime, I am obligated to pay the consequence. That is the LAW. These ILLEGALS flaunt their disregard for U.S. Law by living without fear of consequence, and if caught, then rely on sympathetic politicians, or shows like this to paint them as sad victims of the system they are consciously undercutting. Those immigrants that ARE here legally, and DO become citizens are robbed of their efforts to do things correctly, and in accordance with the Law. That means something to them, and it is cheapened by the casual manner in which ILLEGALS have been coddled by this country. SHAME on US for not becoming serious about this before its taken millions of dollars, and thousands of man hours to try to rein this atrocity in. (Just listened to the excerpt about the ILLEGAL Canadian who went back to Canada and left 4 kids in the US. Tearfully, she asks, "how do you explain to young children that they can't see their Mother...." She can tell them simply, "I broke the law, and what I did was not right, and now I have to pay for what I did." GREAT object lesson to her kids about what is right and what is wrong! THEY ARE NOT UNDOCUMENTED - THEY ARE ILLEGAL!! o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338685705> o 109 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * AVolarVolar 3 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I am Apache...my ancestors were the original homeland security...when your ancestors (Europeans) came they overstayed their visit and killed many of us off. You are much more a criminal than immigrants who attempt to remain silent and invisible. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339316893> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 89 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Amyg913 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Beautifully written! People like Tim forget who was here first and all those atrocities they did when they came here! o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-353183430> o in reply to AVolarVolar <#comment-339316893> o 7 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Laura 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> bravo!!!!! excellent comment! o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-347936481> o in reply to AVolarVolar <#comment-339316893> o 7 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * NYC resident 3 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Tim, Your post is so cruel. I am an American of Irish and English descent and thank God my parents taught me to have a heart and compassion for those who came here due to terrible poverty and need. I know many illegal immigrants and can tell you how there are few jobs to support a family at all. What kind of a person are you to get all worked up over breaking of the law? Martin Luther King, Jr. broke the law, too. Many times. He went to jail. Did you know that? Illegal immigrants who came here to survive: I welcome you. I understand why you came. I know that you are no better nor worse than I am as a human being, but I am sorry that there are so many Americans who do not care about, or understand, why you came here. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338825242> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 51 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * annjohns 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Not cruel at all. Mexico has an unemployment rate half that of the US. Note this article in Bloomberg http://www.businessweek.com/ma... . Or this from the Catalyst http://thecatalist.org/2011/05... As we have taken in millions of their citizens, paying for their childrens' education, health care, subsidizing their housing and food, Mexico has increased their middle class to 60% of the population! Mexicans have a birthrate in Mexico of replacement or less, but here in the US they have an average of 4.5 children. If we want to provide visas for legal immigration based on compassion for those in abject poverty their are hundreds of millions all over the world waiting for permission. Your post is illogical and based purely on some misguided emotional response. Perhaps the children of this couple (what is the father's status by the way?) can return to Mexico and become the leaders and change agent in Mexico. In the meantime we must stop importing people to the US who are destined to cost each and every household thousands of dollars and inevitably compete with our own needy citizens and children. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340883075> o in reply to NYC resident <#comment-338825242> o 18 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Donnoit 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> AnnJohns: By 2050, Latinos will be the biggest section of the US population. The representation in Congress will change then and they will remember what non-Latinos did to them, much like the Japanese Americans remember internment. You can't change it but the backlash will come. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-341713037> o in reply to annjohns <#comment-340883075> o 6 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Legal but tired of haters 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> First of all calm down before you hurt yourself Mr. Hater...people who break the law, and this includes immigration law of course, SHOULD be deported but there are ways to do it. Don't be putting hardened criminals in the same category with this type of lawbreaking. I think that if you come here illegally there of course should be consecuenses but being put in these so called detention places is just ridiculous. It's always been known that illegals suffer a lot while in detention and are treated like murderers and such. There is absolutly no excuse for what goes on in these places. And if that wasn't enough the government knows about it and choose to look the other way. That's what's so disheartning. Let's not lose the fact that these "illegals" are still human. Yes deport if you must but like this? Breaking a man's teeth, raping women, threats, beatings? That makes them just as much of a criminal as anyone. Also the government promissed these deportations would be done in a sistimatic way..first the hard criminals, then the other groups would fallow. This is not happening. That too makes them liars. You don't have to have sympathy for these people. No one is asking you to but they way things are being done is NOT OK. And to all you who consider yourselves "LEGAL AMERICANS" a lot of your roots are not here. You at one point had relatives from other countries who immigrated here as well and not necesarilly legaly. Get a life and stop hating you sound like you hate the world. These people love their countries make no mistake. They try to be here because they have no choice. No one wants to die trying, be humiliated, be beaten, etc. If they endure all this on their journey here it's obviously a huge necessity that makes them try to make it here. The subject of this documentary was "lost in detention" it focuses mostly on the horrible ways detainies are treated and how the government has not kept there promise of deporting the harder criminals FIRST. No one is disputing deportation in general...just the WAY it's being done. You are just focused on deportation...jeez. To FRONTLINE...Though be it sad it was a "further" eye opening report. Thanks o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339124145> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 38 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Jesus Nebot 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Have you ever driven over the speed limit? Then you have also broken the law? Should we call you illegal driver or simply ILLEGAL?. Crossing the border is a violation of the civil code. We all violate the civil code from time to time but we don't call each other illegals. If we caught, we simply pay a penalty and move on (we don't call that amnesty). Couldn't we apply the same standard for them? We don't hear the term "illegal businesmen" to refer to the people that are employing them, do we?. Intead of using the legal frame and refer to them as illegal aliens, we could us a more humanitarian frame and refer to them as economic refugees. Please realize that a vast influx of undocumented immigrants since 1994 are Mexican agricultural workers that lost the opportunity to make a living once NAFTA was implemented. From that point on,Mexican local farmers have not been able to compete with the large american agriultural conglomerates that now benefit from the lack of import restrictions in addition to substantial subsidies from the US government. We are responsible for the circumstances that drove them out of busines. Subsequently they had to come to this country for survival needs, that's why economic refugees is a more appropriate term. If we want to find long term efficient solutions to this situation we need to take our share of responsability and start focusing on foreign policy that would allow undocumented immigrants to stay in their country of origin, not on domestic policies that have clearly not been effective and contribute to the dehumanization of this issue. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339219353> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 35 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Moctezuma 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> The concept 'illegal' is just a fabricated convenience for some people. I don't think the natives asked for visa or any inmigration proceedings to your grandparents Timothy. Nobody is perfect, but don't bully the people that has lost their continent to the real immigrants from the other side of the world. People is coming here to the USA for a reason, just like your ancestors came and they were a minority here too. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338930447> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 30 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Nappydog7 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I'm with you get them OUT, they do not have any American citizen rights.... o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339024103> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 25 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * _cthomas_ 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> When corporate profits demanded cheap labor we get cheap labor, if no one was willing to hire the labor they would not have come. We are punishing the wrong people, these laws did not go unenforced for this long by accident. The Plutocrats wanted no enforcement because it would undermine labor union power.(Build cheap houses and sell them for more than they are worth.) But now that they have effectively neutered organized labor and tanked the economy, they have no more use for "illegal immigrants". Labor operates in a supply and demand function. When there is a high demand for labor and low supply, you have to pay employees more, therefore reducing corporate profits. In turn if policy allows for loose immigration regulation that will increase the number "illegal laborers" and as an added bonus they will almost never organize. Now, I am no fan of illegal immigration, but I refuse to demonize someone for breaking this law to feed their family. The businesses that hired them were the offenders, the Executive branch whose policy was to turn the other cheek there by allowing the scofflaws to operate. This country is run by economist. Our immigration enforcement policy is just as much of an effective tool, as tax policy, public works initiatives or federal reserve policy if not more. These people were only the pawns and now their families and lives are destroyed. I am sure if Tim Kilmer -LEGAL AMERICAN was born in a house built with pallets and cardboard and sold chicklets at stoplights for a living, he would save every last penny so he could pay the lawyers and immigration fees. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338987666> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 19 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Erby3326 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I totally agree. What other law can be broken over and over without any consquence? ICE is suppose to scare people. Illegals shouldn't want to come here illegally because they know that if they have kids here and they are caught they are harming those kids by being away from them. that is not US law fault that is the fault of the parents who again came here ILLEGALLY! o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338872556> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 19 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Tebjr1 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Tim, What's the difference where they work? American corporations are moving jobs South of the border and elsewhere while shifting the burden for caring for these now "work of out" Americans to society's back while running profits through these business units thus avoiding paying income tax to the U.S. Treasury. Washington and corporate America are screwing all of us with a smaller tax base to provide for the unemployed and the foreclosed on. The real tragedy is how disconnected Washington, The White House is in this matter and others while no one has gone to jail for their involvement in the 2008 economic crash. This story showed, once again, how dead the American spirit really is. We don't care who we hurt even if its ourselves. The historic symbol of America -- the Bald Eagle -- should be replaced with the Ego. That's more fitting. Ted o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339222680> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 17 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * posimosh 3 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> And what of the people exploiting them by employing them? surely their crime is worse and on a wider scale.... I can understand objecting to an employer who is decieved by an employee or two being punished, but this is systemic and encouraged. So stop scapegoating and join the fight against the real culprits here, and stop advocating an impossible and illegal position. Fight illegal employers not desperate peasants looking for a better life who, by the way, do not collect Social Security and many other State and Federal benefits even though they pay in to the tax base to varying degrees. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338855240> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 14 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Robert1344 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Absolutely. This is so obvious it is unbelievable that it is not mentioned thousands of times over in this long list of posts. Once the carrot is taken away, fewer people will come and run the risk of the serious personal problems described in the documentary, that they bring on themselves by breaking the law to get here. Solving that problem. It goes back to the fundamental problem in this country, which is the pernicious influence of money on political campaigns, since so many politicians, both Republican and Democrat, are in the pocket of cheap-labor corporations and businesses. One more thing. Who is racist here? In my opinion, those who casually dismiss the ability of black and other native born Americans to actually work under the employment conditions they want to offer. If and when the need finally arises, watch for a new cottage industry of people who train and educate workers to fill job vacancies. More expensive, yes, but the free ride is over in American for everybody, folks. And yet another question. If an employer is willing to cut corners in his hiring, what other corners is he willing to cut in quality and safety of his output that we hear nothing about? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339970493> o in reply to posimosh <#comment-338855240> o 2 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * PayPaul 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Yes, I agree. Employers get to hire and want to hire illegal immigrants because they can save millions on safety measures, benefits and other labor related expenses such as the bare minimum wage in order to increase their personal wealth. American workers are already under siege in legitimate occupations. Corporations and the highly paid executives therein want to live off the backs of both the American Worker and can even more so live off the back of the undocumented workers. Identify those employers who wish to cut those corners and deprive them of the ability to conduct their business. Cut them off from Government contracts and deny them liberty and essential services paid for normally by hard working American tax payers. High level executives and even these small contractors hiring illegals need to be detained in these same concentration camps now being used for undocumented workers. The only question to as is how many employers are out there hiring illegals and thus ruining the American economy by destroying the consumer base? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-341167098> o in reply to Robert1344 <#comment-339970493> o 1 Like <#> o F <#> * * * Ricardo 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Whoa! Tim Kilmen .. Please dont put words in my mouth. I am an immigrant, and came to this country with papers, and now a citizen. But do not for one second believe that I am being robbed of anything by people who are not as fortunate as I was. My immigration story does not mean something that me above the plight of families that are being torn apart, and my status is not cheapened by their status. My faith in this country is shaken by the lack of compassion, and human decency that is being perpetrated by the current immigration enforcement in this country. Please speak for yourself Tim, and dont do me any favors by pretending to stand up for me, because you are not. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339683446> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 13 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Good neighbor 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Thank you! Thank you!Thank you for saying that Tim. I am an immigrant became U.S citizen several years ago. I can see those cases really objectively. I see so many immigrants demand their rights while they are breaking the law. I feel sympathy for the kids however, I am so angry that those parents blaming the U.S government.Helloooooooooo!!!!!!! If you can't afford to take care of the kids, why you keep making babies!!! Don't blame on the government. I live in a big city. I remember one immigrant said, I'll make more kids because the U.S government will take care of them. They know how to use and abuse the system. Then I also remember this elderly man who fought and injured in Korean war said, "Look at that...what a wonderful country America became....., while watching some immigrants who were drank and obviously high on drugs screaming and yelling on the street of Los Angeles. I really want to thank for ICE because the place I live and the place I work, they are much much less crimes compare to 14 years ago.Now it is a much safer community. Keep it up the good job ICE!!! P.S. The country I'm from, they have no tolerance for illegal immigrants. If you are illegal, they deport you automatically. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340533269> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 11 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Lukodairish38 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I thought Frontline's presentation was very one-sided and not up to the usually high standards of its programming. The so-called "undocumented" sneak into the U.S., overstay visas, or get lost in the system, knowing that it is wrong. Yet, when caught, they act as if they deserve to belong here. I don't know how you can square this with the tens of thousands who come to the U.S. and go through the process of citizenship legally which can take years at great financial cost. What is troubling about the illegal hispanics are the criminals who are free to roam the streets and commit crimes. If they're caught, they should be made to serve their sentences in an American prison and then deported. Also, I've read of many automobile crashes involving fatalities in which hispanics have been involved. Many states are concerned by the number of illegals whose driving skills are untested and who often lack insurance. Focusing on the plight of the hispanic population doesn't give a full accounting of the immigration issue, or is it that the hispanics really are at the heart of the immigration problem? I have Chinese friends with green cards who run a family business. They struggle with the language and barriers other immigrants struggle with but they never complain or look to the government for a handout. Another difference is that they are here LEGALLY. For the immigrants who come here legally and must wait, how do you think they must feel when they see illegals plucking the golden goose? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-343366227> o in reply to Tim Kilmer - LEGAL AMERICAN <#comment-338685705> o 7 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Cindyj803 7 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I just finished watching. I voted for Obama, but I am speechless to realize that he is playing a part in the pain of so many human beings whose only crime is that they needed to find a safe place to raise their families and make a living. They have been contributing to America for years. Congress is broken and unfortunately, the president is broken as well. It is shameful. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338697822> o 74 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Pambullis 3 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> So, you want to open the doors for everyone, we can't afford it. They want food, doctors, hospital for free. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338881830> o in reply to Cindyj803 <#comment-338697822> o 17 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Realpolitik 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Pambullis, Have you ever seen any facts, studies, or documents confirming your "facts" that "illiegals" are as a whole not benefiting society? Have you studied the issue or are you just regurgitating what you've heard from others? This issue is obviously multifaceted, but if you want to focus squarely on the "Cost"of immigration, then please, do tell. When someone undocumented goes to pay for their groceries, do they get exempt from paying taxes because they are illegal? What was the number given, 11 million illegal immigrants? How much do you suppose 11 million people consume? Where does that money go? Do you think that 11 million people are on the welfare system? If you want to go with the simple calculation Social Services- Benefits = True Cost of Immigration, then what do you suppose the net outcome will be. To be honest, I'm almost pretty sure it probably cancels out to where they don't really play a large significant roll in our GDP. Don't get me wrong, I do believe they play a large part in the fabric of our society, but to put so much attention, focus, fear and distrust on this minority group, I think you need to reevaluate your position and see what you can do on your part to help fix our society and make it better. Crusading against immigration can only lead to one of two things, less immigrants or amnesty, in either case, how will this remotely have a large impact on your life. If you argue safety, now we're jumping to another point... of which I would not mind carrying that conversation with you. It appears your biggest fear is cost, money. The fact that this is your underlining argument and concern makes me sad. If you wish your financial situation was better, then try looking elsewhere to find the true culprits. I can assure you it does not lie in immigration. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339417075> o in reply to Pambullis <#comment-338881830> o 16 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * fellowPilgrim 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Really?! All 11 million plus want a free lunch? UHHHHHHHH?!?! Pale! Bad taste! Most doing the work no one else will do. Shadow some of the undocumented some time and see, hear what they do and why they do it. Look at some of the more honest right wing think tnaks and read the figures of what the undocumented pay "into" the system which will never come "out of the system" cause they can't work under their own names for less than what they could if they were working under their ownnames and could defend their labor rights. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-343474720> o in reply to Pambullis <#comment-338881830> o 2 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Ocmw99 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I voted for Obama and I will do it again. He can not fix this problem like others alone, bipartisan efforts are needed too. Ms. Hinojosa did a very good job reporting on this story however I think she was taking sides on the issue, she was not obective. Thank you, o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338897970> o in reply to Cindyj803 <#comment-338697822> o 11 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Onharder 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> You watched, but you didn't understand. Obama wanted to reform immigration policies to get away from the Gestapo-like laws instituted by George Bush, but Congress stymies his actions. The Executive Branch (ie President), can only ENFORCE the laws....CONGRESS makes the laws. and CONGRESS (thanks to those who voted Republican) won't enact the reforms Obama would like to see. What do you suggest Obama do? It's the voters who have screwed-up your government....try blaming them! o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338917022> o in reply to Cindyj803 <#comment-338697822> o 8 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Tabula rasta, I loathe Republicans. 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Well said, Onharder. There certainly are a whole passel of mendacious (R)-wing authoritarian, reactionary, xenophobes on this PBS message board. "A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices." - William James "Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it." - Robert Frost o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340455548> o in reply to Onharder <#comment-338917022> o 3 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Kristin 3 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> To all of you commenters throwing about the word 'illegal'--chances are your ancestors who came to the U.S. if they came before 1921, had no papers, no visas, etc. Any person arriving to the U.S. WHO HAD WHITE SKIN was admitted. Can you really then say they were legal immigrants? Are you willing to sanction the obviously racist immigration laws of the past, and claim that you are somehow especially law-abiding because of the color of your ancestors' skin? Yes, it is not the same today--but why do we have the laws we have, when U.S. employers are recruiting in Mexico, when NAFTA devastated small farmers' livelihoods in Mexico, etc? And the U.S. economy is not collapsing from any drain by undocumented migrants. States are having to shoulder many costs, yes. But whether or not a person has papers, they pay taxes (sales, often payroll, and even Social Security, even on someone else's number!). And the federal government gets most of that. Perhaps some of that tax income should go to the states with large numbers of immigrants. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy is collapsing thanks to bank deregulation. Look up the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, and how it has been undermined by deregulation. All those jobs worked by undocumented migrants? Many of those were union until the 1980s wave of union-busting and union-avoidant relocation. Please look at the larger picture, including prison privatization and who is making money off of detention. Who are the real criminals who should be prosecuted in this situation? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338718075> o 72 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Ina dolce 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I hear your point about deregulation and corporate welfare but illegal immigration is also a drain on hard-working taxpayers. CA is bankrupt. Our schools are overcrowded. ESL programs cost us too much. Undocumented workers, illegal aliens, whatever you want to call them, require public services. They require welfare, WIC, Medicare, Section 8 and on and on. It's just not fair. It's time we demand more of central american gov'ts. It's time Mexico taxes it's rich and takes care of its poor. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338861352> o in reply to Kristin <#comment-338718075> o 11 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Shred_25 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> my ancestors are of the native american chipewa tribe. don't even get me started. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338848972> o in reply to Kristin <#comment-338718075> o 11 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * A 2nd Generation American 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> An amazingly slanted documentary that ignores the so called 800 pound gorilla in the room....the blatant fact that all those individuals and their immediate families that were not born here in the US, crossed our border ILLEGALLY.....Until PBS, Frontline and other Media outlets come to terms with the fact the ILLEGAL is ILLEGAL and that society has prettied up that statement by referring to these individuals as' Undocumented', we will be a lost nation. Other immigrants followed the rules and Immigrated to our country by the rules and so must these Illegal’s or face the though consequences of Deportation....no if, ands or buts about that. They need to go back home without looking for amnesty from our political leaders. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338688801> o 71 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Merphd 5 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Lots of problems, but let's clarify one ignored fact: deportation of illegals does not divide families; the decision of the family not deported to stay in the USA rather than return with the legally deported is what divides the family. Odd that the pull-your-heartstrings reporting fails to report this option. But that fits nicely with the refusal to refer to these immigrants as illegal. That refusal to use this lawful language expresses the intent to disobey the properly passes law that the illegals perform, with too many citizens encouraging such pick-and-choose attitudes toward the law of the land. Our system provides for changing laws; undermining and disobeying the law attacks our country by disrespecting its core pillar of rule of laws, not of men. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338688721> o 70 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Punkin 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> They also failed to report that those detained were fighting their extradition. When we sent them home to await the deportation hearing, most vanished. Now we keep tabs on them by detaining them in barracks. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338766015> o in reply to Merphd <#comment-338688721> o 12 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * sillybunny07 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> It does divide families, your comprehension of this documentary is dim. It divides parents from children who were raised here, who don't know much about their family's original country. Those children don't deserve to live without their parents. What did they do to deserve such a horrible situation? Just because a law is established, that doesn't automatically make it moral or ethically right. Do you think the Jim Crow Laws should be in place right now? Do you think it makes sense to apply that to today's society? The reason why it has been abolished is because HUMANITY is the ultimate rule of law. When a person's humanity is being ravaged, people have to speak up and disobey an oppressive law. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338884320> o in reply to Merphd <#comment-338688721> o 8 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Everardoh76 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Why you don't just see what is happening in Alabama? There is no immigrants to pick the tomatoes and now the agricultural is worrie because the Americans don't wanna do that o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338748945> o in reply to Merphd <#comment-338688721> o 8 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Quieromom 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Unless unjust laws are contested by actions of real people, no changes will ensue. Look at the struggle for equal rights for black people. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338747134> o in reply to Merphd <#comment-338688721> o 6 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * usmc5855 5 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Shame on Frontline for such a slanted and muddled story telling. There is no such legal entity as "UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT"- it is "ILLEGAL ALIEN." I am so sick of hearing the left behind children excuse. If that excuse holds water then NO ONE should ever be put in jail for any crime if they have any children. Coming into the country illegally is a crime. Please quit demeaning an American Citizenship. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338696562> o 63 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * bachmaij 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Being forced apart from loved ones is not an 'excuse,' its one of the tragic consequences of our immigration policies. The problem is abuse is prevalent and the harm we cause with our policies far outweigh the problem of illegal immigration. If you were deported after a routine traffic stop, you would see things differently. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338786363> o in reply to usmc5855 <#comment-338696562> o 8 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Onharder 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Your attitude demeans American citizenship. Pity. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338917921> o in reply to usmc5855 <#comment-338696562> o 7 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Mallarde 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> This is a new low point for a once venerable program. One gets the sense that Hinojosa really pushed to do this. How can forcing someone illegally in a country to return home be so horrible? What makes anyone think there is a right to stay in a foreign country without a visa? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340432585> o in reply to usmc5855 <#comment-338696562> o 6 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Guest 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> “Demeaning an American Citizenship” ? To be an American is certainly a source of pride, however not for the reasons you may think, to be an American means to extend your hand to others, believe you can do anything if you are willing to work hard to achieve it, it means being pragmatic and to believe in Justice. Remember the poem on the Statue of Liberty Give me your poor and your tired, your huddle masses....I am sure that it does not say anything about Papers! o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-341679941> o in reply to usmc5855 <#comment-338696562> o 3 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Patricia Brennan Btto 4 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I'm a SC attorney. As lawyers, we're trained to respect, enforce and defend the rule of law. Yet, your program portrays the enforcement of our laws as cruel/ inhumane/wrong. I disagree with you. I believe illegals should be deported. All of them. Period. Illegals having given birth to children while illegally in our country should not influence their deportation, nor should the fact that an illegal has successfully avoided enforcement of our immigration laws for a long number of years. Send children born of illegal Mothers with the Mothers. Had these illegals not been here illegally, they would not have children who are American citizens. Their children would have been born in the Mother's home country. I favor Congress passing laws that a child born of an illegal Mother has the citizenship of its Mother, not citizenship of the place where the child is born. I do favor reform of detention centers to the extent that there is not abuse of detainees.. Further, I favor a quick deportation, once a person's illegal status is confirmed, rather than holding the person in detention. I do not favor allowing illegals to force our country to reward them for breaking our laws and disrespecting our borders by granting amnesty to lawbreakers. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338694913> o 63 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * steviesteele 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Dear SC attorney, before you speak about the "rule of law" you should familiarize yourself with a body of law call the immigration and Nationality Act as well as the U.S. Constitution. There are many ways provided in the INA permitting persons who may have "successfully avoided enforcement" for a long number of years to legalize their status, but your comments aren't about what the law IS, they are about what you WANT them to be, such as invalidating the doctrine of jus soli under the 14th Amendment, limiting Due Process to whatever you think "confirm[ing]" a person's illegal status might entail, and ulitmately confusing clemency and public policy with a "reward." As an attorney you should know better, because i'm an attorney, and while i don't support illegal activity, like driving one mile per hour over the speed limit, I recognize that illegal does not always mean 'criminal,' and that the word 'humanitarian' has a meaning also. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339356256> o in reply to Patricia Brennan Btto <#comment-338694913> o 26 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Aquhamilton 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I do not believe a person may be described as illegal .Perhaps an action would be properly labeled illegal, but a person? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339060173> o in reply to Patricia Brennan Btto <#comment-338694913> o 15 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Sjourden 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Dear SC attorney, Unless you are of Native American descent, then I believe you are an anchor baby too,as all of us are! o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340407512> o in reply to Patricia Brennan Btto <#comment-338694913> o 8 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * worldcitizen 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I am a world citizen. I've lived in other countries. My husband, who is an American citizen, was born in Brazil. I have many friends from other countries and I speak three languages fluently. All human beings are dear to my heart. All are human beings. All children need their parents. Therefore, ripping a decent mother from her children, for whatever reason is unacceptable. Human beings are not collateral. Raping ANY person ANYWHERE is unacceptable. Collateral is not acceptable. I am an American and that is why. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338741283> o 55 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Anon 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> worldcitizen, Well said. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338894631> o in reply to worldcitizen <#comment-338741283> o 8 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Joeblue 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> It is shameful for a democratic country to rip families apart regardless if there are little children or not. This country demands from other countries always Human Rights but practices policies that are cruel and expected in countries like Iran or Syria and not in a civilized country. For decades this country has used illegal immigrants to work in farms of the Republican south. These detention centers are breeding areas for illegal conduct and criminal conduct because of the documented harassment of detainees, the sexual attacks from private prison contractors which treat human beings like animals. The fact that in a country based on laws the detainees have no legal access, no remedies is a stain on Obama and his administration. One would think a constitutional law professor would uphold the laws and not wildly rip families apart. There is need for reform but until there is a working congress that is able to pass immigration reform, these centers and ICE should be abolished as a inhuman organization. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338694435> o 49 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Jon 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I remember when Frontline once had ethics and tried to present issues without bias. I hope one day they return to that standard. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338703434> o 47 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Onharder 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I guess you agree with what is happening....calling a program 'biased' for outlining how families are ripped apart because some are American born and one isn't.... is somehow putting yourself into an immoral position. Don't you care about human suffering? Maybe you are a guard at a camp where deportees have NO rights! Even American born MURDERERS have the right to a lawyer and trial by jury, and are INNOCENT until proven otherwise. Biased? Sheesh! Factual presentation of the immoral stance Congress is more like it. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338913836> o in reply to Jon <#comment-338703434> o 9 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Akidwill2004 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I understand the suffering families experience when a family member is detained for being in this country illegally. Who is to blame? Not us citizens. Illegals made the decision to come here and have to suffer the consequences. I am sure you are familiar with the term "anchor babies." Our system is being exploited. If you enter this country illegally you should be deported no ifs, ands or buts. It is more difficult to enter Mexico than the USA. All countries on earth have immigration policies. You already know what happens if you cross into Iran. Try China or North Korea and you will get a bullet in the head. The US economy is collapsing due in part to the drain (in the billions per each state) spent on illegals. What is the problem with coming here legally as other immigrants do? If amnesty is given to the reported 12 million here now they will soon be replaced with 12 million more. Where does it end? Andrew Kidwill Snellville, Ga. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338698679> o 46 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * bachmaij 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> If you overstay your visa on a trip to France, would you expect the consequences to include being thrown into a 'detention center' with no access to legal counsel and no oversight where you can be sexually assaulted or just beaten senseless at the whim of the guards? No where else in the western developed world are immigration this inhumane. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338776643> o in reply to Akidwill2004 <#comment-338698679> o 14 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Don 3 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I was watching your show Lost in Detention and I noticed you only covered some of the abuses , and deportation of parents while their children stayed behind , the one mother who was here 20 years ILLEGALLY was featured , my question is why she didn't in those 20 years try to become legal . Not covered was the many ways ILLEGAL drugs are shipped into this country , the tunnels that are dug to ship drugs into this country , the NATIONAL park in Arizona that is closed to AMERICANS because if ILLEGAL drug smuggling and ILLEGAL people crossing the border. Also not covered was the way that vehicles are altered to hide drugs being smuggled in and now they are starting to use trains and trucks. Funny how slanted your reporting can be .... o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338693480> o 44 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Sjourden 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Don You seem to have the typical American response, you assume that under the "law" any undocumented person can just get a green card if they have been here for a number of years. Immigration law is very complex and without amnesty or a special act, undocumented people can not just adjust their status. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340403905> o in reply to Don <#comment-338693480> o 7 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * NYC resident 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Don, The reason many people can be here as long as 20 years and not have papers is because they often think that they are going back home, and later find that they cannot afford to. No work STILL in their homelands. They want to be with their loved ones at home. They can't believe that they had to be here so long to survive and regret that they did not apply for the last amnesty program which was about 18 years ago, I believe. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338851120> o in reply to Don <#comment-338693480> o 6 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * T 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I am a Mexican-American, and I do not support this illegal immigration. If millions of American Citizens stormed the Mexican border, what do you think Mexico would do? Please stop generalizing all Hispanics with these illegal people. Most Mexican-Americans care about the economy and how these illegals are destroying it. And it also puts a huge target on legal Hispanic Citizens. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338702539> o 43 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * au_tiger 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> why shouldn't america deport illegal immigrants when mexico does the same thing? I do feel bad for the kids but there parents should have tried to become legal so it wouldn't have been an issue o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338690058> o 40 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Josefinavel2006 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Okay so let me who would want to go to Mexico? FYI we are not just deporting "mexicans", that are just being deported there are other races also. Guess why people come to America because their country is not providing what America does and it's not welfare! There are also caucasians who live off welfare and are NOT willing to work to make a LIVING! o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338919599> o in reply to au_tiger <#comment-338690058> o 5 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Weasel 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> What happened to the old white man that normally narrates Frontline? Was this narrator cheaper? It's hard to take this episode of Frontline seriously when the reporter/narrator often lapses into a Mexican accent when talking about an American illegal immigrant law enforcement problem. Overall this episode of Frontline seemed pretty weak and one sided. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338720753> o 38 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * sillybunny07 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> So what if she has an accent? She's still understandable. You're probably just used to having your white privilege dominate media. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338890731> o in reply to Weasel <#comment-338720753> o 10 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * liss 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> People who are here illegally don't come to the United States because they want to challenge the system, it is because of a human right, I understand people who are against this because it is so easy to judge if you have not been in that situation yourself. Now, don't for one second think that the U.S. was not aware of this problem, if it did not have its benefits, this would not have been allowed by this government. Of course now the blame needs to go to the weakest link, no news there. I also strongly believe that if we want our economy to boom again, the millions of people here who are illegal, undocumented or unauthorized, however you want to call it, need to get to be part of the society they live in and start having responsibility as well. We need these people to be able to have credit, spend their money, be able to buy homes, invest money in their families and boost the economy with the rest of the people in the US. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338723911> o 36 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Pambullis 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> They make the money here and ship it out. Our country is going broke. Freedom is not free. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338889624> o in reply to liss <#comment-338723911> o 8 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Sports Fan 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> The illegal aliens are taking jobs away from Americans. THIS IS OBAMA'S MAIN REASON FOR TAKING ACTIONS. And this is CONGRESS' MAIN REASON FOR MAKING IMMIGRATION LAWS. THEY, CONGRESS AND OBAMA, are attempting to give more American citizens opportunity to obtain employment, to get back the homes they lost and to raise their children. There are many, many and many more businesses that will only hire illegal aliens in order to pay them less in order to put more money in the owners' pockets while American citizens can't obtain jobs, their children are homeless and live in cars, and they are desperate for help, any kind of help. Many state and county health care facilities provide free health care to more illegal aliens than they do American citizens who obey the law. In fact, many health care facilities hire illegal aliens in order to provide health care to illegal aliens. The illegal aliens also receive other state and federal aid. But Frontline did not report this nor told how Americans are denied employment while the illegal aliens maintain work and are never at risk of losing home, job or happiness. I loved Frontline until this program. Frontline is viciously making it appear as if Obama had forced the illegal aliens to come into this country, forced them to have children and now is turning his back on them. However, Obama was a little boy when the illegal aliens started entering this Country illegally and having babies. It is impossible for the illegal aliens, you and me to enter into some countries such as Kuwait and live there for a week without visa. However, the homeless, jobless and hopeless American citizens are required to take a back seat to those who are here illegally and who are not homeless and jobless and who are prospering. For those who agree with Frontline and can not find a job, you need to ask the illegal aliens for help -- they have more going for them then you do. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338711655> o 36 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Onharder 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> No, you are wrong. It's not illegal immigrants taking 'away' jobs from Americans....they are doing the work that most 'Americans' wouldn't do because of the poor pay. It's been the Corporate America that's taking the jobs away...they have arranged for the goods they sell to be made in China, or Indonesia or some other country with poor labour laws and low labour costs....this MAXIMIZES their profits and dividends to shareholders. It's the American rich (top few percent) who benefit, and also those low wage earners in poor countries (a low wage is better than no wage), but it leads to the erosion of middle class jobs in the US and in other more developed countries also. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338906332> o in reply to Sports Fan <#comment-338711655> o 20 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Wendy 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I love watching Frontline, but I found "Lost in Detention" poorly presented. It was almost a commercial for illegal aliens, completely one-sided. I'm a far-left liberal, but do not believe myself inhumane or racist to want our immigration laws enforced. If a person is driving without a license and is illegally in this country, law enforcement is obliged to uphold our laws. If illegals can drive without licenses, how can you say that's okay? Just because they have children at home? If a detained illegal has children born here, then that person or their spouse is free to relocate the children to Mexico with the deported mother. "Oh poor illegal aliens" doesn't work for me. Especially when all the commentators boo-hooing their situation have latino names. It also urks me when latinos hold rallies against our laws, conducting them in Spanish, to boot. The implication is that they have rights, where, in fact, they don't. This biased program mocked a long-overdue attempt to deal with a giant problem completely out of control. If you do a story on the illegal alien issue again, it shouldn't be done exclusively from their point of view. Everyone totally UNDERSTANDS their point of view, but few of us support an entire subculture working here illegally, paying no taxes, not learning English, exploiting our healthcare system, and now demanding their "rights." Sorry to have to write this email. But ironically, the show updated me on what the federal gov't is doing about the issue, and I was glad to know we're finally enforcing immigration laws. Kudos, Obama - I don't say that often! o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339370565> o 20 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Paul Useyourbrain 3 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Last night's episode of "Lost in Detention" was one of the most biased programs Frontline has ever produced. The Producer/Writer had an obvious agenda, and appealed to the lowest common denominator; emotion. It is very easy to make a sympathetic story of a mother torn away from her children, but it is purely anecdotal. It's similar to vilifying all illegal immigrants because some are involved in drunk driving accidents that kill American families. The Producer/Writer did not provide a serious account of the varied issues surrounding illegal immigration. Instead he showcased a platform custom made for the pro- "illegal" immigration lobby. The editorial staff of Frontline should be embarrassed about airing such anecdotal sophistry. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339392610> o 19 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Pat_Foley 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I could not agree more. As I stated yesterday in a post this was as one sided as a Fox news broadcast. I used to believe Frontline was a good news source, now I have to question everything they broadcast. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339475618> o in reply to Paul Useyourbrain <#comment-339392610> o 11 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Jmrrpress 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I would say the ranting about "illegals" is the appeal to low common denominators: fear and scapegoating. The program was trying to inform people about human rights abuses that we should all care about. That so many would castigate Frontline for informing them is a dangerous omen for our future. I suppose you all assume that the government will never abuse your human rights, and that if it does there will be a courageous reporter to expose it and concerned citizens to come to your defense. But your attitude is undermining our safeguards to human rights. Whether the deportation law is legal or not, it is obvious to me that it is being enforced in an immoral manner involving gross abuses of human rights. I am grateful to Frontline for airing this important story. Martin Niemöller's quote about Nazi Germany is still relevant: "First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. "Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. "Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. "Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-348847211> o in reply to Paul Useyourbrain <#comment-339392610> o 6 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Joey B 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> This was a remarkably biased perspective on this difficult issue. I expected more from Frontline. The reporting was one-sided and offered absolutely no solutions besides, leaving one to assume from the one-sided stories that the solution is to stop deportations altogether altogether based on the notion that deporting illegal immigrants is somehow immoral. The Latina reporter (engaged here in personal identity-based reporting or advocacy rather than true journalism) seems to presuppose this and tells a story that obviously relies on some exceptional cases out of the thousands of illegal immigrants deported. What about all the true criminals that have been deported? Where would she draw the line in criminal behavior that would merit deportation? Surely she does not suggest that deporting even true criminals is wrong, no matter what ethnicity. This would be an extreme position I know the Latino community generally rejects. There are many other issues with this report, but I was particularly sad to see that the story is told in an "us against them" fashion, pitting the large Mexican illegal immigrant community against everyone else. I know many Mexican immigrants, the was majority of whom are law-abiding citizens, and who have a far more complicated view on this subject. There was some diversity of opinion presented on both sides of the issue, true, but not enough for this report to avoid coming off as an opportunistic attack promoting further ethnic and social divisions, something we do not need in trying to deal with this tough subject. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340878353> o 18 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Donnoit 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I saw no advocacy. She only reported on what the government is doing: unprecedentedly aggresive enforcement with no 'reform' as promised before. Just because the reporter is of Hispanic origin makes no difference to what the government did. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-352172906> o in reply to Joey B <#comment-340878353> o 0 Like <#> o F <#> * * * krrdds 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I have worked and lived illegally in another country. I understood that if I were caught I would be deported. At no point did I believe that I had the right to be there, contrary to their laws, simply because I wanted to be. And I certainly did not believe that the longer I stayed, the more right I had to be there. I took my chances with it and understood that if caught, there would be consequences that I would not like. I get why people do it- I just don't see how they can be upset when they get caught and deported. Why is the blame for breaking up families being placed on the government? Why is no responsibility placed on the people that chose to bring children here illegally or to have children here when they were in a legally precarious situation? How can the US government be held responsible to have more concern for the safety and well-being of their families than they were willing to do themselves? If you don't want your kids to be without a parent, don't place them in a situation where that is a very real possibility. It’s not as if the US is unique in deporting illegal immigrants. Go live in China without documentation, go live in England without documentation, go live in Russia without documentation, go live in Canada without documentation, go live in Colombia without documentation… you’ll find the same thing no matter what country you go to. It’s absurd to frame it as racism. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338916283> o 17 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Mark Hall 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> First time I've ever quit watching an episode of Frontline and turned the channel. Was this an episode that was meant for Frontline/mexico? Unbelievable! I'm supposed to feel sorry for these families getting split up when they came across the border illegally?? Let me ask you a question, if the mother, or father is deported because they came into our country illegally.. do they really have to be split up? I mean, can't the rest of the family move to Mexico and be together? From what I watched, it looks like they would at least be better off in the sense that they would speak the language of the country they live in - because they didn't speak English . And to all those who keep throwing out the notion that this country is a nation of immigrants anyway, so what's the big deal? They should have gone to college, even finished high school. If they would have, they'd know that the United States was a vastly different place in the 18th and 19th century. So few people inhabited the country at that time that land was actually given away for free. In fact, North America itself had only recently been discovered a few hundred years before. Since then, the population of the U.S. and the world has grown exponentially and is on its way to being overcrowded, if it isn't already. Resources are scarce, etc, etc. People can spin it however they want, but it isn't a race issue, it's simply... this country is full now. It isn't our fault if Mexico can't get its act together and their government is corrupt, etc. Stand up! Demand change! Stop changing our country beyond recognition, and depleting OUR resources. Already, because of our inept politicians Mexicans will be the dominant race in our country in 50 years. Amazing. Sharing a border with the country who's primary race will soon become the dominant race in our own country isn't wise to say the least. Why have a border at all? This is a diverse country, let's keep it that way. Horrible, horrible episode of Frontline. A disgrace to all the meaningful, insightful journalism that had come before. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338811974> o 17 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Andrea Benjamin 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> National geographic took on the notion of the world being "overcrowded" in the cover story of October 2011. I thought like you until I read it! There is a video of the article here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.... . Basically, the question is: if we were to throw a giant human party, how much space would we need so that 7 billion people could dance, allowing 6 sq. feet for every person? 1,500 square miles, or about the state of Rhode Island. Everyone on earth, standing shoulder to shoulder, could fit on 500 sq. mi., or the area of LA. Take a drive out to the country to experience the thrill of open land. I'm continually amazed how big the world is. There is room for everyone. Please watch the video. The small article revolutionalized my understanding of the world. Our pattern of wasteful consumption and the need for shiny things that consume oil and electricity is the cause of our woe. Andrea Benjamin o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339373577> o in reply to Mark Hall <#comment-338811974> o 5 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Webmaster 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I have lost a great amount of respect for one of my favorite PBS programs, FRONTLINE. Maria Hinojosa has zero credibility as an unbiased investigator and was a poor choice for the immigration topic. Maria please lose the puzzled look that the U.S. has begun to enforce its immigration LAWS. Personally I believe illegals are now experiencing the backlash they created and deserve from their protests and arrogance. I actually gained a little respect for Obama due to your program which surely wasn't Maria's agenda. Maria... your time would be better spent south of the border documenting Mexico's immigration policy. Let's compare which country has the more tolerant stance on trespass. Hopefully this episode will further spread the word that Americans have had enough of the nonsense. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338786329> o 17 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Warro15 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Unfortunately the show lacked fairness and was very one-sided. All of those in detention were there because they broke our laws. Two of the main problems is that they did not show up for their court hearings, or broke into the U.S. for more than one time after being previously deported. I really took the interviews with detainees with a grain of salt as we did not see both sides of their cases and they looked like they were gaming the system. Of the ones with five kids, did they receive taxpayer funds to support their large families? ICE tries to let moms and dads go if they indicate they have kids, but that was not mentioned in the program. And also not mentioned is that any of the detainees could volunteer to go back to their countries at any time, but choose to stay in detention. We need to take a good look at the interpretation of the 14th amendment as the drafters stated that to be subject to the jurisdiction, one must be 100% subject to the jurisdiction to become an automatic citizen at birth. And they need to secure the border before they address how to handle the illegals in a fair and humane manner. As a supporter of public television, I was not pleased with this program. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339196119> o 16 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * valenzor 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> This was the worst, most biased, illogical, scattered program Frontline has ever aired - and I am a fan. Bottom line: a person who lives in this country illegally deserves to be deported back to their homeland. Every country has rules on establishing residency. The woman in Canada who bemoans not taking care of her children - how idiotic. She should be responsible for once, and bring them to where she lives - it is that simple. The allegations of rape and brutality at the detention center deserve our horror and intentions to interfere. Do a program on prisons and the culture that allows rape, torture, and even murder to be tolerated. That's a topic that could use real investigative reporting. This program was a mess, the reporter was a mess, and no where near the usual Frontline standards. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339019963> o 16 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * worldcitizen 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I think we are in deep trouble as a nation when alerting people to blatant disregard for human rights is described as "political bias". o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339402159> o 15 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * AP 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> If you don't want to be detained, then don't be in this country illegally. I was appalled at this so-called documentary's blatant ignoring of the real issue: ILLEGAL immigrants. Since when are illegal immigrants entitled to the full protection and full rights of a citizen? If you are here illegally you are a criminal. If an illegal immigrant must leave his/her children behind when deported . . . what did you think was going to happen? Since when did bearing children exonerate a criminal from the crime? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339215580> o 15 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * keith sandy 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Just glancing over comments here, it is obvious that your consistent liberal leaning is being taken to task again on this issue. If the whole U.S. population was polled on ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, you would discover that easily the majority of Americans DO NOT WANT OUR BORDER POROUS with a constant stream of ILLEGALS. We are the ONLY nation who has not revoked the bizarre & antiquated law that allows children born of ILLEGALS, while in this country ILLEGALLY, to automatically become American "citizens". Entering this country LEGALLY as ALL our ancestors did, is totally acceptable as well as desirable. If feeling sorry for the poor in other countries is justification for allowing them to enter the US without going through proper & legal procedures, then why not invite the poor from the whole world to do the same? Why stop with Mexico? Why not include every Central American country...every South American country...every country in the world? That would sink us financially in a matter of days & we'd shortly thereafter implode us physically from all the weight. Sounds crazy, I know, but the thought is just to put your skewed logic & "sympathy" into perspective. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338906354> o 14 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * mdefusco 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> What a powerful piece. When people speak of families as collateral damage, we know that we have reached a new low as a country. As a nation, we have always protected the rights of individuals against the requirments of the common good to avoid collateral damage. Whenever we hear this term, we have loads of victims that cause our great country shame. When Kumar (I doubt his family was on the Mayflower) brags agout 195K people returned and then goes into specifics (1000 murders, 6000 sex offenders, 45,000 drug violations), his bragging scares me. I am all for removing the murders and the sex offenders (not including the ones who work for homeland security) and might eveb consider the drug violators (if they were selling and not casual users), but what were the other 140,000 so called criminals doing - no doubt speeding and driving without insurance. This is criminal. Thanks for bringing it to light. President Obama should be ahamed. It is time to dismantle Homeland Security before we become a complete police state. Cheers to Frontline for keeping us alert. when Scott Key called us the land of the free and the home of the brave, he never envisioned this. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339200252> o 13 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Eatsflowers 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> A very one sided view by frontline. I am very disappointed in PBS for showing only the one side. These separated families have chosen to live apart. Yes the illegal status of the individuals prompted the separation but the family chose to live apart rather than move together. It may not be easy to move together, but it is the right thing to do. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338890183> o 13 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Kyle Gilbertson 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> I really don't have a lot of empathy for condoning illegal activity. I do agree that immigration reform is something to look at, and time in country ought to count for something along some sort of scale. One thing I would absolutely support is automatic naturalization those who put in at least 10 years of active duty service in the military. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338741750> o 13 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Drl 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Frontline...still the best investigative journalism on TV. But when the presentation is this skewed it really shouldn't be presented as a Frontline program. It should be a POV presentation or something like that. Downplayed in the program is that the illegal immigrants who are detained are given a right to present their case before being deported. Instead of extolling the inherent fairness in the system, USA citizens are made to feel their government is callous and cruel. Want an unbiased view of the illegal immigration problem? Watch "Border Wars" on National Geographic channel. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-339202930> o 12 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Look Ahead 1 comment collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> For decades, under Republican and Democratic presidents, illegal immigrants streamed across our borders and found work with corporations, small businesses, farmers and families who were able to save money and bypassed labor laws and taxes. Plenty of law breaking all around. The Obama Administration tackled the problem head on through employer audits and penalties, as well as increased deportations, intended to be focused on criminals and those who have ignored deportation orders. Through June 2011, ICE has deported over 31,000 criminals convicted of Level 1 aggravated felony offenses such as murder and rape. In a 7 day sweep just in September, 2,901 illegal immigrants with criminal records were arrested. At the same time, the Obama Administration announced in August that deportations would be suspended on a case by case basis for those who do not represent a serious public safety threat. I wish the program had been less slanted and more balanced in recognizing that the Obama Administration is making a serious effort to address this challenge that has effectively brought new immigration from Mexico to a net zero level. It would also help to point out that illegal immigration has long been encouraged by illegal employment practices by our very own citizens. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-338921274> o 12 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * Read__THIS 4 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Lets think back about 3 weeks. Remember those three "poor", "mistreated", Americans who ILLEGALLY were in IRAN, with no "proper documentation". Iran DETAINED them, and then AMERICAN WENT CRAZY about it! The government and celebrities, and all the rednecks from coast to coast were demanding for their release. Why though?! The USA detained hundreds of thousands of foreigners last year for the same thing (sometimes even something less like an expired VISA). Iran, however, UNLIKE THE US, gave those three Americans the right to attorney's and allowed them to have a public trial which lead to their release. The US doesn't give detainees such a right. So wait now....in this case....who has worse human rights violations, USA or IRAN? o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340046014> o 11 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * shedalight 3 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Read- you make a very interesting comparison. Why is that the US does not provide counsel for the detainees? Is it because the number of detainees is too great or the system is so protected by the government they don't want anyone else involved. The best part of this Frontline broadcast, was it shed light on how we should work to better change this awful and dirty word "illegal immigrant" . To make it a shared sacrifice for us all. After all....our ancestors got here from some other place. Moreso- the racial profiling of Latinos is disgraceful, as it is with any brown skinned person. What about the thousands of European undocumented immigrants. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-340799496> o in reply to Read__THIS <#comment-340046014> o 4 Likes <#> o F <#> * * * judgeroybean2 2 comments collapsed Collapse <#> Expand <#> Illegal immigrant and illegal alien are perfectly neutral and widely accepted terms to describe a foreign national who is in another country without a proper visa or residence permit. I lived in France, Japan, South Korea, and a few other countries, and have visited 30+. Always LEGALLY. And I was asked to show my passport many times, and since I was legally there it was a minor inconvenience. As for our ancestors, they built a society here based on rule of law, including immigration laws. The refusal to enforce those laws means that anarchy will rule instead. And that is a fair assessment of what most US citizens think about the immigration situation. The only solution here is belated enforcement, starting with Secure Communities and then preceding to workplace enforcement (in case you haven't noticed, 16 million US citizens are now unemployed; the best jobs program would be vigorous immigration enforcement). As for illegal immigrants here from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, China, etc., they should all be detained, processed and deported too. Every one of them, sob story or no. o A Like <#> o 4 months ago <#comment-341857931> o in reply to shedalight <#comment-340799496> o 3 Likes <#> o F <#> * * M /Subscribe by email/ <#> * S /RSS/ Load more comments <#> blog comments powered by Disqus SUPPORT PROVIDED BYClick here to find out more! 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