Roxanne: My name's Roxanne, I'm 22 years old,
In three days, I'm gonna see the judge,
and the judge is going to decide whether I stay here in America
or go back to Mexico,
Pablo: My name's Pablo Dunoyer, I'm 20 years old,
My family has a removal order on our heads,
So long as that exists, we have no certainty about
our future in this country whatsoever,
Man: First target today-- the subject got a, uh,
2009 arrest, looks like communications,
Target two--target two I already designated three of you,
Three is, uh, again moves at about 0615 hours,
Avedo's gonna have the eyeball on that one,
Soon as he gets the eyeball,
we're gonna take him into custody,
We're in one of the worst areas of L,A,,
so everybody watch each other's back,
Anybody have any questions?
- All right, folks, be safe, - Man: All right, be safe,
It's gonna be,,,
We can enter a residence as long as they provide us
with consent to enter the residence,
[ beep ]
So the lights are off at the target house,
and usually that's an indicator that somebody's
ready to step out the door, so hopefully that's the case,
This might be the times,
[ beep, man speaks indistinctly over radio ]
All right, so we're gonna go in,
identify that person here,
We have officers on scene here,
Yeah,
[ dog barking in distance ]
[ barking continues, officers speak indistinctly ]
Belly, M,I,A, &amp; Meek Mill: ♪ Freedom comes ♪
♪ Better lock your door ♪
♪ Freedom comes ♪
♪ It ain't safe anymore ♪
♪ Look, this ain't a tan, my skin the same color as sand ♪
♪ From the motherland, look down and see the world in my hands ♪
♪ Government bans, it's like the world is stuck in a trance ♪
♪ There's nothin' more priceless than bein' free ♪
♪ Immigrant, that's why they hate me just for bein' me ♪
♪ Freedom comes ♪
♪ Better lock your door ♪
♪ Freedom comes, it ain't safe anymore ♪
♪ Our land is holy, our land is history ♪
[ Echoing ] ♪ History, history, history ♪
♪ We--We are all immigrants ♪
I'm Rosario Dawson,
Like most Americans,
I descend from immigrants,
I'm a Puerto Rican, Afro-Cuban, Irish, Native American,
Immigration is about people,
Immigration is a living and breathing thing,
and we've looked at it very differently
at different times in our history,
and I think it's critically important
that we hear people's stories,
And right now people are fighting for their lives,
I'm a strong boy,,, [ babbles ] I'm a strong boy!
I wanna lay here, I don't wanna leave this spot,
Woman: You're my strong boy,
and we're gonna be strong together, right?
And then we're gonna be together soon
in our new house on the beach,
Every time I think I wanna cry,
[ crying ]
Woman: I know,
I know, baby,
Joel: Well, I left Guatemala because
my family was being persecuted,,,
Woman: His family are Christian evangelicals,
and because of that, Mr, Colindrés himself
had been attacked several times,
Since he has been in the United States,
his family members have been murdered,
So this is not a joke,
- Joel: Morning, buddy, - Boy: Good morning, Daddy,
- That's better, [ toothbrushes buzzing ]
[ spits ]
Woman: Even though it's a month after Christmas,
we've still left our Christmas lights up,
'cause we're just hoping to have that--
that Christmas miracle, you know,
keep the magic of Christmas going,
- Say, "Good morning, Daddy," - Good morning,
She said, "I wanna sleep some more,"
Woman: I won't take them down till I hear
any news on Joel if he's staying or going,
Well, we met at a-- at a restaurant,
and he was the food runner, and I was a bartender,
It was that immediate, like that corny stuff
that you hear in movies, like that butterfly
in your stomach where you feel your cheeks get blushy
and you get a little shaky,
When we were dating, I told you the real thing,
No green card holder, so are you sure you wanna do this?
There we go,
- Girl: Bye! - Samantha: We didn't know
he had a deportation order
because we didn't find that out until we started,
but I knew that he wasn't a citizen,
but it didn't matter to me because I was in love with him,
You like who you like, You love who you love,
Samantha: This way, baby girl, It's all yucky over there,
Joel: Put your seatbelt on,
Samantha: Make sure I got lipstick on,
- Lila: Bye-bye! - Love you, Have a good day,
- Samantha: Bye, - Love you!
- Samantha: Say, "Bye, Daddy," - Have a good day!
- Boy: I got my window down! - Lila: Bye!
♪♪♪
Every Monday, I have to be home,
One of the people from ICE have come to check me out,
And they say, "You're not supposed to leave
between 7 and 4 p,m,"
So that's pretty much what I do on Mondays--
sit and wait for this person to come and check me out,
[ birds chirping ]
[ buzzing ]
I work for a high-quality company in New York,
People call me a master carpenter
because I'm good at what I do,
[ saw buzzing ]
Growing up, my dad was a builder,
and, uh, I started building stuff when I was 10 years old,
And what my dad to me,
that's exactly what I wanna do with my son,
So last year, around springtime, my son and I--
we build this birdhouse,
I'm a regular person, not a criminal,
I want to be here to support my family,
That's my job-- take care of my family,
Woman: There is a common misconception
that if you get married to a United States citizen,
that this is going to fix all your immigration problems,
It doesn't,
It doesn't fix an order of removal,
It doesn't excuse you coming to the United States
without permission,
♪♪♪
[ birds chirping ]
[ phone rings ]
[ ring ]
Samantha: Okay,
Samantha: All right, thanks, Bye,
Samantha: We got a call from Erin
that our 212 Waiver was denied,
um, which is the hardship waiver,
which is supposed to prove that if Joel were to leave,
that me and the other, you know, two U,S, citizens, our children,
would suffer extreme hardship here,
Their denial was not based off of the hardship at all,
It was based off of his failure to appear 14 years ago,
So they're still holding that over his head,
How much longer can we keep being strong for? [ sniffles ]
So that you can be strong for them,
so then you're, like,,, [ sniffles ]
[ voice breaking ] it just eats at you later on?
[ sniffles ] 'Cause you can't, like, work through it,
[ whispers ] I don't know,
[ sniffles ]
Sorry,
It sucks,
[ sniffles ] Yeah, It really sucks,
[ sniffles ]
Joel: When I came to the United States,
I jumped off from the border from Texas,
and I went straight to the police station,
and I say, "I'm here" and this, and "I need your help,"
and they said, "The only thing we can do is call the, you know,
immigration and so they can see if they can help you out,"
The guy came and picked me up from the police station,
brought me to the--to the ICE,
They asked me questions, "Where are you going?
Do you have family?"
I said, "Yeah, I do have a brother in New York,"
And I gave them my passport,
I gave them the address where I was going,
And, um, I came to New York,
So they said, "We're gonna send you a paperwork
so you can present yourself in New York,"
and, you know, I was waiting for those papers,
I never got those papers because they have my wrong last name
and wrong address,
So two months went by and everything,
and then I kinda tried to call the number they gave to me,
but the line always sound busy, Beep, beep, you know,
So I gave up, didn't call, nothing,
That was my big mistake,
You know, if I go,
I'm not gonna take my kids and my wife to Guatemala,
I'm not gonna put my family
at risk of gangs and criminals,
You know,,,
[ wind blowing ]
There's no question some people may miss their letter,
their--their notice to appear, but the reality is
everybody says that, It's kinda like
"The dog ate my homework" at school,
If we believed everyone who said it,
it would gut the immigration enforcement system,
Trump: Our cities should be sanctuaries for Americans,
not for criminal aliens,
Male reporter: Churches are preparing
a more direct challenge to federal authority
under the Trump administration,
Woman: Potentially, these church leaders
could be placing their parish
at risk for prosecution and fines,
♪♪♪
[ siren wailing in distance ]
I take my brother to school, At 6:30, I wake up,
We leave by 6:50, the latest, It's a 35 to 40-minute drive,
Oh,
In high school, I didn't have any type of protection
until my senior year, and that was when Obama
created the DACA program, but now if my DACA does run out,
they can deport me,
We're still waiting for someone to come up with a plan
to give us a path to citizenship,
My brother--he's a citizen 'cause he was born here,
- So how's school doing? - Oh, it's been doing all right,
Lorenc: Have people been talking about us at school?
Eric: Not really, Some of my friends that bring it up
ask how we're doing, and I just tell 'em that we're doing
a little bit better,
Lorenc: You know, it's high school, you know,
People talk, The best thing you can do is just ignore it,
Yeah, I've been ignoring it
since, uh, it first went on the news,
Okay, bro,
[ makes whooshing sound ] See you later,
Lorenc: See you, man,
I haven't really heard about ICE until Trump took presidency,
Like, when we went to our appointments
where they would check up on us,
they always gave us another year, another year,
And then one day we went, and they're like,
"You're gonna be deported in three months,"
It was just out of nowhere,
Rosario: Lorenc's father, Ded, was ordered to self-deport,
Instead, Ded sought sanctuary
in Central United Methodist Church,
Lorenc's mother, Flora,
suffers from Multiple Sclerosis,
Ded is Flora's full-time caregiver,
♪♪♪
Yeah,
Flora: Mm-hmm,
- Yeah? - Yes,
I am Caitlin Homrich-Knieling, and I'm the organizer
that's managing the Rranxburgaj family's campaign,
Ded Rranxburgaj came to me because he found out
that we have a sanctuary network,
Ded and Flora came to the U,S, 17 years ago,
and they brought their oldest son, Lorenc,
who was a baby at the time,
It's extremely hard to get political asylum
in our circuit of immigration courts,
so they were denied,
They appealed that denial,
and they were denied again in a higher court,
but during that time, they had a second son, Eric,
and Flora got sick with M,S,
So Ded provides all of her care,
and if he were deported, it could spell the end
of Flora's life,
It's been two months,
We still haven't heard anything from ICE,
gotten any response from them,
It's just a day-to-day uncertainty,
That's only been magnified by having to take sanctuary
and live in this church,
♪♪♪
Zundel: Prayer is so much more than bowing our heads
and repeating the Lord's Prayer,
It is an action word
as well as a spiritual word,
One thing that I live by every single day
when I wake up, and now that it's tattooed on my arm,
I can see it, it's the quote, "When injustice becomes law,
resistance becomes duty,"
That means when there is an unjust law,
I'm gonna rise up,
I'm gonna encourage other people to rise up,
Resistance becomes our duty,
So here at Central, we don't just pray for Ded and Flora,
our sanctuary family, but we write letters,
and we protest, and we call legislators
and we demand that they stop separating families,
Woman: Amen,
The new administration started threatening people
with deportations, and so we took a vote
to be a sanctuary church,
Shortly after we took that vote, we took in our first family,
I anoint you in the name of the Creator,
the Redeemer, and the Sustainer,
- Amen, - Amen,
Zundel: I have been accused of harboring a fugitive,
I'm not harboring anyone, ICE knows exactly where he is,
ICE will not call us, ICE will not talk to us,
They will have no communication with us whatsoever,
Camarota: You never want a situation where people
can violate the law with impunity,
This man faces deportation,
Simply walking into a church, it's not the Middle Ages,
You can't say, "Look, the rule of law ends at the church door,"
If he isn't entitled to stay, then it makes sense
that he should return to his home country,
Now if that creates hardship for other people,
that's something they might have thought about
when they decided to come to America and stay illegally,
[ indistinct conversations ]
Zundel: Ded has worked 17 years without a day off
just to care for his family, and he's been targeted,
We don't know why, They just decided,
"You need to go back to Albania,"
[ rustling ]
Ded: I'm holding my plate,
Zundel: I understand people say he should have followed the law,
and when he was told to self-deport,
that he should have,
But for him to self-deport is a death sentence for his wife,
You want me to cut up a little piece?
Huh? Okay,
Zundel: Sanctuary is hard, It's not a chicken's way out,
He cannot leave the building without threat of arrest,
It's a difficult, difficult thing to do,
but he's doing it to keep his family together,
Zundel: He takes care of everything for her,
and because Lorenc is a DACA recipient,
there's no protection for him right now either,
and so if Ded is deported and Lorenc is deported,
a 15-year-old has to take on the responsibility
of his mother, who is in a wheelchair with M,S,
What are you willing to do for your family?
What risks are you willing to take?
What would you do in that situation?
How would you react?
Yes, we are a country of laws,
and we have reinterpreted those laws over and over
and over again over the years,
Right now we have to ask ourselves, is it better
to be breaking up these families?
Does that actually make us safer?
Does that actually better us as a humanity
and as an American nation or not?
♪♪♪
Roxanne: My name is Roxanne, I'm 22 years old,
I came over to the U,S, when I was 2 years old,
and I was brought by my mother,
My biggest goal is to be a trauma surgeon,
My hands were built to save lives,
But in three days, I'm going to see an immigration judge,
and he will decide whether I stay here in America
where I grew up or be deported back to Mexico
where I was originally born,
♪♪♪
What I feel most is fear,
It makes me more scared
that I don't know what's gonna happen,
It's been really hard to stay positive
because the reality is I could be deported,
I could leave my mom,
could leave my little brother,
[ switch clicks ] - I don't believe
what's happening to me,
This is my home, I'm American,
I consider myself Texan because I grew up here,
[ Roxanne's mom speaking Spanish ]
[ crying ]
[ birds chirping ]
Roxanne: Growing up was really difficult for me,
Most of my memories aren't good,
At home, there was a lot of issues,
Far as I can remember,
I was being sexually abused by my own dad,
For the longest time,
I felt like that was a normal thing,
I hated being at home at night
because I knew what was gonna happen,
My mother was too busy working,
and no matter how hard I tried to get away,
my dad would go and look for me, threatening to not only kill me
but kill my mom and my brother,
telling me not to tell anybody what was going on at home,
[ birds chirping ]
Roxanne: Behind the building that I lived in
was a little creek, which is this creek
that I used to love to hide in,
I had noticed that my dad would go back there
and kinda look for me,
[ birds continue chirping ]
I have a faint memory of this,
but this one time,
I guess this person had seen me outside the entire afternoon,
and they had asked me if I was okay,
and I said yeah, I just didn't wanna go home,
♪♪♪
Roxanne: They ended up buying me an ice cream,
All I remember was going up the stairs,
'cause we lived in the second floor,
I was just going upstairs
and there's, like, a little chair,
I sat outside,
By this point, it's already really dark outside,
I heard yelling coming from inside the house,
That's when I knew my mom was home,
and she was freaking out on where I was,
and I was happy, because I knew I was safe,
I knew it was safe to go inside,
That was an accomplishment for me
because I felt like I avoided my dad,
Man: The system is being gamed, There's no doubt about it,
Man 2: Thousands of people arrive
at the U,S,-Mexico border every month seeking asylum,
Man 3: The victim must have a well-founded fear of persecution
based on certain factors,
Woman: Asylum seekers have been kidnapped, held for ransom,
made vulnerable to traffickers,
Woman 2: President Trump says the United States
should deport people trying to enter the country illegally
without facing a judge or a court case,
He was deported at the end of October,
and she says within two weeks, a local gang
in his small town of southern Mexico had killed him,
♪♪♪
Pablo: "Yes, you, Roberto, and Consuelo,
"it's us again, motherfuckers,
"You thought we had forgotten, but here we are,
"We need to get paid already, or you assume the consequences,
"You need to know that our organization is not played,"
"We will begin to crush and dismember one by one
the members of your family,"
Rosario: The Dunoyer family has been under threat
from Colombian guerrilla groups for the past 18 years,
They fled to the United States in 2001,
This group, FARC, they wanted $300,000 from my father,
or else they're gonna kidnap my brother
and me and my mom, and our only choice was to leave the country,
Rosario: For over 10 years,
the Dunoyers have received a stay of removal,
allowing them to legally live in the United States,
In 2017, for the first time, it was denied,
Pablo: We've lived in the United States for 17 years,
but now ICE is telling our whole family
that we have two weeks to leave the country,
We can't go back to Colombia,
We're still very much in danger there,
In Colombia, my dad-- he worked for the government,
He was in charge of a lot of money,
Because of this, he was targeted,
They say, "I need your money, I need the--the money,"
I say, "No, no puedo, I can't, I can't, I can't,"
And they say, "If you don't bring the money,
"you have problems with your family,
"I know where is your kids,
I know your wife,"
They knew private information for the families,
Consuelo: I was in shock,
Pablo: My parents--they wanted to get political asylum
in the United States,
We didn't have time to go through
the standard legal process,
That sort of thing takes years, We didn't have years,
We had probably days at that point,
- We leave,,, - We leave everything,
Everything, our life, our family,
We arrive here with two suitcases,
Pablo: I don't know what I'm gonna do in Colombia,
I-I probably won't survive,
[ scoffs ] I have this shit to deal with,
I have this, They wanna dismember my family,
That's what it says here,
[ sighs ]
Just anyone--
anyone who can see what I'm trying to get at,
I need you on my side, I need you to share this,
♪♪♪
I'll throw it, and you guys go right there,
[ laughs ] Give me these,
Camilo: I know you guys know that
my family's kind of in a tough spot with immigration,
We got that meeting coming up,
so we don't know what's gonna happen,
[ sighs ] It just doesn't seem right, dude,
Why do you think they want you outta here?
- Like, what, what-- - I think the simple
answer to that is that we're just another number,
and they don't really care,
When do you think you'll know if you have to leave or not?
Camilo: At that meeting, they'll tell us yes or no,
and if no, then we basically have to leave
in a matter of weeks, - How much time?
- In a matter of weeks, - Oh, dang,
Boy: Just straight up like that?
Camilo: Just straight up like that, no questions asked,
no arguments, That's basically game over for us,
I don't even know what to say to that,
I think right now we should make a video,
push it out like crazy,
and then let's see where that gets us,
If--If the worse comes to worse,
at least we can say we tried something,
- Camilo: Yeah, - That's a really good point,
At least people will know what's happening
and know the screwed-up situation
that it put my family in,
I'm Camilo Dunoyer, I'm 17 years old,
I'm from San Diego, California,
I migrated here when I was 11 months old,
but right now I'm in danger of being deported back to Colombia,
It's crazy to see all the support that we have gotten,
This is my favorite place in the world,
and just the possibility of never being able
to see this ever again is-- it's terrifying,
I will keep fighting,
just keep making sure that our story gets out there
and just reach as many people as possible,
Roberto: Enjoyed your food?
Pablo: My parents--they were both college-educated,
They had great lives,
and they had to give up their jobs in Colombia,
They came here with the bags on their back,
They had nothing, They already had to start over,
They're gonna have to start over again,
How are you gonna retire?
I don't know, 'cause it's very hard for us,
Our life is here, It's 17 years,
[ indistinct conversations ]
The problem is immigration is--
- ICE, - They no--don't care
if you're good people or a criminal--the same,
- Zero tolerance, - Zero tolerance,
Man: As Attorney General, it is my duty
to ensure that the laws of the United States are enforced
and that the Constitutional Order is upheld,
Woman: Protesters in cities across the U,S,
demanded that the Trump administration
end its zero tolerance policy,
Trump: We want border security, We want security in our country,
We respect ICE,
♪♪♪
Tabaddor: Zero tolerance policy, sort of generally speaking,
just means that any time the government
can take any sort of enforcement action, it will,
In the past, the government may have made some distinction
between which groups of people they wanted to take action,
whereas now they take action against anyone they come across
who is in violation of the immigration law,
♪♪♪
[ Lila babbles ]
[ utensil clatters ]
Samantha: Who's gonna say grace?
Wait for Mommy, okay,
Who's gonna say grace?
Samantha: Hold her hand now,
- Amen, - Woman: Amen,
You pick up the books you wanted me to read tonight?
I'm done,
- Did you eat everything? - Boy: Yeah,
Woman: You want some more bread, honey?
[ babbles ]
Paul and I are retired, and these are the fun years,
and to travel and to do everything,
and the only thing you want is your kids to be happy,
and you give it all up,
You give everything all up just to have your kids happy,
I'm an engineer, and us engineers, we like to--
we always follow the logic, and this isn't logical,
Paul: It just doesn't make sense,
It's like giving somebody no country,
It's like,,, I can't even explain it,
It's like living, waiting for somebody to die,
It's like your life is on hold, like you can't enjoy yourself,
- Samantha: No, it's on pause, - You can't,,,
Like Paul and I, we don't go out,
I don't call my friends, We don't socialize anymore
because it's too difficult to explain the situation
because,,, - Samantha: Over and over,
Over and over, 'cause I don't even understand
the whole situation, and I don't wanna look like I'm having
to justify Joel 'cause I don't have to justify Joel,
I don't wanna lose my little-- my daughter,
I don't want her to be so far away,
[ voice breaking ] And I don't wanna lose my babies,
Is it dangerous to vilify
an entire demographic of people?
What we're seeing is that across the board,
we are going after every undocumented immigrant,
but is that actually making us safer or better
as a society or community?
Erin: I'm looking at our list
of things that we've done, that we have to do,
Um, we have the petition pending with the 5th Circuit,
the emergency stay--
that's really the only legal thing
that I see that could stop this,
The legal question, and it might be a completely new question,
but as a U,S, citizen,
do you have due process rights to your husband?
I do think that the appeal
with the 5th Circuit has merit,
so hopefully someone at the 5th Circuit
will hear our plea to stop his deportation
to let him have a chance at telling his case,
With the 5th Circuit, they'll--
do we have hope that they'll rule on that emergency stay,,,
- Erin: Mm-hmm, - ,,,before the 31st?
Erin: I do think that they will rule on it,
Okay,
This deportation date is completely arbitrary
and is subject to discretion, so anyone at DHS at any point
could pull the plug on this deportation date,
There's nothing black and white
about making Joel Colindrés leave on January 31st,
Erin: Really, it comes down to ICE listening to your plea,
What else can we do?
At the end, it's not about me anymore,
It's about my family,
♪♪♪
So,,,
Feels a little weird being back in Southgate right now,
but, you know,
it feels like nostalgia, almost, - Yeah,
Lorenc: Used to live, like, right over there,
- Yep, - Like, I walked home
after school, - Right across the street,
So if Dad is deported, are-- are you ready to go with him?
- I know, - You might not have
another choice, - I know,
You're--You're 15,
Lorenc: How do you feel about that?
I'm just scared more than anything,
I try to look at the positive in everything,
- Eric: Right, - I don't wanna think
about our family being torn apart,
I try to think that, you know, Dad's gonna get
his fugitive label taken off,
He's gonna get that stay of removal,
He's gonna be put on a path to citizenship,
and, you know, we'll all be,,, - Eric: Together,
- Together, yeah, - Eric: Yeah,
Lorenc: This place is really nice during the summer,
They have two pools on both sides,
and we always went every day,
Not every day but at least four or five times a week,
My--My brother loved it,
We'd buy, like, a Little Caesars $5 pizza,
Pepsi, and that would be our whole day, [ chuckles ]
We would come back, and then, you know, watch some TV,
go to sleep, and that was a good day for us, [ chuckles ]
We didn't do anything special, but,,,
and it didn't cost much,
♪♪♪
Your situation is part of a bigger struggle
that is going on
The most basic part
of a society of a country
is how it takes care of families,
We're fighting for-- for your family,
but at the same time, we're fighting for our families,
Mann: The most basic unit of society is the family,
and if we fail to protect the idea of family,
wow, this is all this--
this man is trying to do,
At least until now, they have not come
in any of these church sanctuaries around the country,
One of the reasons is it's an old, old tradition,
It's beyond the law,
The grounds of a church are special,
The pressure on the sanctuaries is really a symptom
of this struggle that is going on
for the soul of this country,
♪♪♪
So I asked our person at Michigan United who works most
with ICE about how can we deliver these letters,
Like, we can do something creative and playful
that shows,,, - Woman: Well, Rashida
shoved them under the door last time
they wouldn't let me in, - Right,
ICE feels untouchable,
It feels immune to public opinion,
It feels like they can do whatever they want,
and we can't say anything about it,
I don't know what it's going to take to convince ICE,
but we're gonna try all that we can
to just be heard by them,
So we need to think about, like, what's a visually compelling way
to deliver letters to such a cold federal office?
The field director of our regional office
has the power to grant Ded a stay of removal,
that Ded can stay here legally with Flora,
We've been asking her to do so,
and they still haven't really responded,
Woman: Right, and that's our goal, Right,
Mary: I didn't think I would be doing this in my retirement,
Neither did Arthur, I'm sure,
You know, um, we could be on a beach in Florida, I guess,
but this is important,
If we don't speak up now, who have we left?
If Ded is deported, Eric--
he'll probably be put into the foster system,
and that leaves Flora as a ward of the state,
Really? Is that what we are as a country?
Trump: It's DACA,
We've been talking about DACA for a long time,
I've been hearing about it for years,
Woman: The program is
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals,
known as DACA,
Woman 2: The Administration's announcement that
it's gonna end DACA,,, - Man: The U,S, will now
stop accepting new applications for the program,
♪♪♪
Roxanne: I never told any of my friends
of my legal status,
The reason I didn't wanna tell anybody
was because I felt embarrassed,
I registered for my DACA when I was maybe 13 or 14,
DACA granted me to have Social Security,
a Texas state I,D,, and a driver's license,
as well as being able to hold a job
like a normal U,S, citizen,
[ faucet runs ]
But I, unfortunately, had it taken away,
I was 17 when my DACA wasn't renewed,
In the moment that I tried to renew my DACA,
I wasn't aware that I had an open case,
I was caught stealing,
This was literally the day before prom,
Me and a friend-- we went to Walmart,
It was very dumb,
Nail polishes, makeup,
Anyone who loses DACA,
it's usually a criminal conviction,
even for low-level misdemeanors,
and so someone who has DACA and has a low-level misdemeanor
can still lose their DACA status,
My fear for Roxanne is that she could be deported,
and if her dad wanted to find her
to continue to sexually abuse her,
to murder her as retribution, he would be able to do that,
and there would be no protection for her in Mexico,
If Roxanne's DACA had been renewed,
she never would have found herself
in this tragic place of deportation,
♪♪♪
- Woman: 2 years old, maybe? - Roxanne: 2,
Roxanne: I remember that,
Woman: Yes, usually woke up in the morning, and,,,
[ laughter ]
Woman: Christmas, always together,
- Juliana: Always together, - Remember? We have so much fun,
- Mm-hmm, - Juliana: Always,
- And Thanksgiving, too, - Roxanne: Too,
Because your mom,
your uncle, and me, we cook,
You know how I love to cook? Basically bake,
The apple pies and pumpkin pie,
I think that's one of the most memories that we have
that we've been so close with your mom, with you,
with your brother,
[ sniffles ]
[ Celia whispers indistinctly ]
It's--It's, um,,,
[ sniffles ]
Roxanne: Every week before my immigration courts,
I take it very hard because I don't know
if it's gonna be my last week,
If I were to be deported,
I'm not mentally prepared to,,,
come across my dad,
I'm--I'm not physically
or mentally prepared for that,
No matter how much I try to push it away,
it's gonna come back,
It's that unknown, not knowing where he is
or the fact that he's not in jail where he should be,
and just knowing he's in the same country,
um, that--that has to be really unnerving,
It's just hard to--to,,,
[ voice breaking ] to feel like
you're just gonna get everything taken away
within a blink of an eye,
♪♪♪
Roxanne: When I was being sexually abused
by my own dad, I felt like I was a slave,
I was like this target,
And I think that's where
a lot of my depression came from and my anxiety,
because I was constantly in fear,
I smoke marijuana
for my anxiety and my depression,
I was out with some friends,
and I ended up getting arrested,
[ siren wailing, police radio chatter ]
Roxanne: The officer found the marijuana on me,
I was given a complaint form
for possession of marijuana,
Lozano: In a situation like Roxanne's,
something that concerns me as an immigration attorney
is that she has a low-level misdemeanor conviction,
which the immigration laws oftentimes treat as a felony,
They punish at the level of someone who is a murderer,
Roxanne: They have given me a court date,
I went to court, I found it very, very suspicious
because everybody who was in the court
was being fingerprinted and having their mugshots taken,
I was very concerned at that point,
When it was my turn to see the judge,
she had seen that, you know,
my legal status wasn't,,, active,
Essentially, that meant that I needed to go see
an immigration officer after court,
I went up to the judge, paid my court fees,
and right when I'm walking out,
I get tugged on by this woman,
and I turned around, and I look at her, and I'm like,
"Can I help you?"
And she tells me, "I'm sorry, honey, You're being detained,"
Roxanne: My heart sank, My heart just dropped,
I was no longer in the hands of Williamson County,
I was in the hands of ICE,
Rosario: Roxanne was detained by ICE for one month,
She was released on a $6,000 bond,
Under our immigration law, there are additional consequences
to criminal activity
that United States citizens don't have,
If you get a conviction for shoplifting, that can trigger
enforcement action and deportation,
If you have anything relating to controlled substance,
it's very, very difficult to excuse that
or in some way waive it,
So I sleep here, My brother sleeps on the top bunk,
and my mom sleeps at the bottom bunk,
and the only reason it's like this for right now
is because when I was detained,
they actually had to downsize the apartment
so that they could have a little bit more money
to--to go towards my bond,
Upon my release, they had told me
that I couldn't go to work, couldn't drive,
I had my rights taken away,
This is my home,
For them to tell me that I can't do anything
makes me feel really, really worthless,
Nowadays to defend someone against deportation,
it's between $15,000 to $20,000,
You have a right to an attorney,
but you do not have the right to have a free attorney,
You are going to have to pay for a lawyer
or you have to defend yourself,
♪♪♪
Nadia: My name is Nadia Omar,
I'm a paralegal at Mackins &amp; Mackins law firm,
We are here to help this family,
They've been renewing a stay of removal
every single year since 2008,
- How are you? - Hi, Roberto, How are you?
- Good, - Yeah?
Nadia: They've been renewing it under every administration
until this Trump administration made everybody become
an enforcement priority,
- Nadia: How are you guys doing? - Camilo: We're good,
Yeah? Right, Any news,
So we received an email from ICE
canceling the ICE check-in,
I wanted to read the email to you guys,
So the email says, "Ms, Mackins, your clients
will not need to report until further notice,"
Nothing more, nothing less, They didn't give us
any other instructions, so it's just been cancelled,
It's been cancelled, or it's been postponed?
- In their words, cancelled, - Pablo: Okay,
Consuelo: What do you think?
We have no clue what are they thinking,
We've, you know, asked them numerous times,
Do you think there will be another meeting?
Nadia: Possibly, It's just keep calling,
but then also you don't want a next check-in, right?
We don't want an appointment,
You guys have been pending this order of deportation for years,
Stay of removals granted, granted, then denied,
That order is signed by a judge, ordering your deportation,
Camilo: Do you think they do that without warning,
or do you think they--
Nadia: They can do it without warning,
Do you think that's their plan?
Nadia: I-I can't speak for them,
They always say,
"We're not telling you any other information,"
or completely ignoring us or even hanging up on us,
Nadia: You can never trust ICE, That's not who is on your side,
It sucks that you guys have to watch your back,
- Camilo: Yeah, - Like, and that's what
is heartbreaking, and to have to break that to you guys
to let you know you have to watch your back,
but there's no way to know when they're coming
or when they're not,
Camilo: So right now is there anything protecting us?
Nadia: If they're gonna find you, they're gonna find you,
- Wow, - Pablo: If some cars
were to pull up, like, right now,
could I go into my neighbor's house,
my neighbor's yard or something and could they detain me there?
Nadia: If they find you, they can detain you, right?
- Pablo: So is there any, like-- - Safe haven?
There's nowhere, Like, what about a church? Like,,,
There's no safe haven,
It's that order of deportation that they have,
- That's so crazy, - Nadia: I know,
- That's insane, - Nadia: And it's upsetting
because they're trying to classify you guys
under this group of priority,
and that's what frustrating so much
because you guys are the last thing
that should ever be a priority,
Roberto: Oh, my God,
Nadia: It's a lot,
I know,
[ beep ] - Man: I need you guys
on the right side,
[ dogs barking in distance ]
Man: Yeah, we're, uh, we're good,
He's not in there, - Man 2: Okay,
Quinones: So once we make the arrest out in the field,
we take 'em down to Los Angeles
to our staging facility, and they'll be processed there,
If you look at the news,
I mean, there's immigration news always on the forefront,
I think the most difficult thing about my job
or being an ICE officer in general
is the scrutiny that we get from the public,
I think what we do is positive every day,
They should just be around the corner,
[ beep ]
Quinones: We're enforcing immigration laws,
protecting the public--I mean, I don't think you can go wrong,
[ crickets chirping ]
[ flames crackling ]
Pablo: I did not realize how bad this was,
We're not safe anywhere, We're not safe at school,
We're not safe at work, in our house,
Pablo, here, let me,,,
[ speaks indistinctly ]
- Pablo: Yeah, - Consuelo: Oh,
Do you ever think about what would have happened
if we stayed in Colombia?
Do you ever have any regrets or,,,
No,
There are many, many, many families in our country,
they're kidnapping the kids
because it's a business for them,
They kidnapping a little boys,
They kidnap them as, like, babies like Camilo and,,,
- Consuelo: Yeah, - Roberto: Exactly,
It's a business for them,
It's disgusting,
- Consuelo: Yeah, - Roberto: Yeah, it's a problem,
We knew about many, many families in the same situation,
and we knew what happened with them
for the reason we decided to come here,
- So this was the only option, - Yes,
Did you ever expect that our asylum would be denied?
No,
We were in Colombia, and FARC forced us out,
you know? - Roberto: Mm-hmm,
Now we're in the United States,
and we have another group, ICE, that's forcing us out,
Exactly,
Did you have the money to pay FARC?
Roberto: No,
That's why I think this is so stupid,
'cause it doesn't even matter, We couldn't have paid it,
Yeah, no, everything is stupid, It's stupid right now,
It's stupid there, I think sometimes
that ICE is same with the FARC,
- Consuelo: Not for money, - Not for money,
pero it's for a life, This is the same,
[ crickets chirping, flames crackling ]
Rosario: So you have zero tolerance policy,
which means everyone across the board
who is an undocumented immigrant takes priority,
That means we're not actually
specifically targeting criminals,
We're going after DACA,
We're going after elderly people,
We're going after folks who have been here
for years and years and years
who have been contributing tax money and their skills,
Well, if everyone's a priority, then no one's really a priority,
Rosario: We're squandering our resources needed
to go after real targets that should be gone after
rather than a student trying to get an education,
Does this really make sense for our objectives going forward
to be safer and a better society?
♪♪♪
[ crowd chanting indistinctly ]
Samantha: This is the fourth time
we've done a public event for Joel,
Senator Blumenthal's gonna be meeting us,
He's gonna do a pretty quick kind of press briefing,
We're hoping for a really big impact because of that,
It's often said that the safest place for an illegal immigrant
is on the front page of the newspaper
because once you get enough attention
and enough popular backing, the immigration service
is less likely to go after you,
so publicity often helps you avoid the law,
This treatment is an outrage,
He faces imminent danger if he is deported,
There is no rationale or reason
that a man who has followed all the laws,
done it right all the way along,
married to a U,S, citizen
in accordance with the law should be deported,
That is not only tragic but a travesty,
Deporting Joel Colindrés would betray American values
and American justice,
[ cheers and applause ]
No man, country, or system has a right
to break up a family, a marriage, and a home,
- I looked that up on Google, [ laughter ]
It hurts me as a veteran that this is the same country
which I once left the comforts and safety
of my home in Connecticut to help fight a war in Vietnam
for the freedom of others,
What kind of a country tears apart honest,
law-abiding, hard-working, tax-paying families?
It's sinful and inhumane,
- Thank you, [ cheers and applause ]
Blumenthal: Thank you,
Thank you,
[ cheers and applause continue ]
♪♪♪
Samantha: Oh, I think the dog's out,
Preston, do you wanna go bring Reyna up here?
- Sure! - Thanks,
Ooh,
- [ shouts indistinctly ] - Hey, wait, wait, wait, wait!
Wait, Joel, he's a-- he's a Lexia Superstar,
- He made it to level three, - Joel: Nice,
[ cellphone rings ] - Samantha: Oh, it's Erin,
- Hey, - Erin: So sorry I didn't
talk to you all day, but since 8:30,
and I just got out five minutes ago,
That's okay, We have the, uh, you know, stuff going on,
and Preston just got home, and I gotta go get Lila,
You think that's gonna make all over the hula hoop?
- Erin: So anyway,,, - Okay,
Erin: Um,,,basically,,,
Are you kidding me?
I can't, I can't right now,
It came in last night, and then we're just hearing it now?
All right, so now the only stay we have is with ICE,
It'll probably deny, too,
- Erin: But so you understand-- - Did they give a reason,
like, for denying it? - Erin: No,
Ugh! Help me,
The 5th Circuit denied your emergency stay,
- Preston: Mama, - Samantha: Yeah,
- Preston: Mama? - Samantha: Yeah,
- Preston: Can I play with this? - Samantha: Yeah, Go ahead,
I'm just gonna take off speaker for a minute
'cause you are with Joel here, but Preston's in the room,
I don't want him to--to hear,
She said there was no reason, They just deny it,
Like, they don't put a reason,
And we were really banking on that one,
'cause I really thought ICE would deny it,
and I felt hopeful about the 5th Circuit granting it,
Fuck!
Samantha: I don't even wanna make dinner now, Yeah,
Preston: Make dinner? Mama, I'm hungry,
Make dinner, please,
- Preston: Are you,,, - Joel: Oh,
[ sniffles ] I can't deal right now,
- I got you! - Okay,
Daddy, Daddy,
Hey,
[ Samantha sniffles ]
Preston: Mama, what are you doing?
Samantha: Oh, just gonna go outside for a minute,
[ door opens and closes ]
[ babbles ]
♪♪♪
Fuck, fuck, fuck,
Samantha: They denied his emergency stay
in the 5th Circuit, the one that we were hoping for,
and Erin just called and told me,
- [ Samantha sniffles ] - I-I got quarters,
Samantha: Fucking bullshit! [ sniffles ]
And we were banking on the 5th Circuit giving up
because we knew, you know, how ICE is,
Like, ICE--ICE could not even rule on his stay,
so we could not even hear, like, before the 31st,
[ sniffles ]
I can't fucking believe this,
♪♪♪
Tabaddor: I believe there's a common misconception
that separating children from their parents
as a result of a deportation order
is an exceptional and extremely unusual hardship,
If you come to the United States without authorization
and then you decide to have children,
then that's like an assumption of risk
that's your choice, It's a decision you made,
You knew that when you were having children
that there is a chance that you're going to be deported,
so you can't argue that having the children or being separated
is exceptional and extremely unusual hardship,
♪♪♪
Roxanne: What's good? What you doing?
Man: Whassup, whassup, whassup?
I'm gonna go from living in the city to this village,
Robert: Ah, hell no, [ laughs ]
[ laughter ]
There is no Sephoras out there,
Um,,,maybe I could, like,
get a decent job because I'm bilingual,
- You could, - I have my degree,
My mom was telling me, "You can probably be okay
"being there maybe one or two weeks, but after that,
like, Roxanne, like, you're not gonna make it,"
That'd be some shit, pretty much,
That'd be definitely horrible,
I don't know, I feel like hard knowing that, like,
you're just a phone call,
I can't actually, like, see you and see you and everything,
So it's like, you're like the girl version of me pretty much,
you know what I'm saying?
So you're like my sister pretty much,
so,,, [ inhales deeply ]
That'd definitely hurt a lot,
I'm-a miss you because,,,
'cause you're my best friend,
And it's not easy losing a best friend,
So,,,yeah,
I'm just gonna miss the fuck out of you, pretty much,
So,,,
I feel like,,,
It'd just be more safer for you over here,
Got more opportunities for yourself
and that, um,,, you know what I'm saying?
You do everything you wanted to do,
Yeah,
Lozano: In a case like Roxanne's,
her case is very concerning to me because of the fact that
her father has been deported to Mexico,
Now if she were to be deported to Mexico,
he could easily find her,
I believe that there is no place in Mexico
that Roxanne could go to be safe,
Roxanne: So what's the plan? If I get deported,
we have family in Monterrey,
and I can't say I know where that's at,
but I think that's closest to the border,
- Right, - My most immediate family,
and I guess they would come and pick me up,
because as far as I know, when someone gets deported,
they don't drop you off where you're born,
- Mm-hmm, - They literally just
drop you off at the border,
One thing I did get from a few people was that
to never look scared, but I'm like, well, I am scared,
I don't know these people,
and especially for being a woman,
you're more vulnerable to get hurt,
How am I supposed to, like, put on this brave face
when I don't know what I'm doing?
♪♪♪
Lozano: If Roxanne is ultimately deported,
Roxanne is going to be left
in a dangerous border town, most likely,
with the resources and the money that she has on her
with no contacts, with no help, and nowhere to go,
In my practice, what I've seen,
is that once people are deported,
they cannot make ends meet,
and so they're left with one option,
and that's returning to the United States,
What is dangerous about this
is it puts them in the hands of human traffickers,
Big reason why I don't wanna go to Mexico
is because of my dad, - Juliana: Yeah,
Roxanne: Everybody knows who my dad is,
and everybody fears for me and not for him,
Like, people from his side of the family contact me,
They know what I've gone through,
He's been victimizing way more other people,
and it's not just me,
- You know, and-- - It's disgusting,
He deserves to be in jail, not you,
He had you in a chokehold,
It was just, like, "You say something, you're gonna die,"
♪♪♪
My parents always told me, you know,
don't try to make, like, really close friends,
Just try--try to be like a lone wolf kind of thing,
Stay to yourself, And it's not because they told me,
Because I knew that, you know, if I do get deported,
like, how--how would I tell people that? You know?
They call me to ask me to hang out,
I'm like, "Oh, yeah, you know,
"I'll be right over there from Albania,
I'll take the first plane out," [ chuckles ]
To be honest, I barely know anything about Albania,
I can tell you a lot about America, [ chuckles ]
But I can't tell you much about Albania,
Lorenc: There's, like, six more letters
in the alphabet, apparently,
I wouldn't even know where to start,
♪♪♪
Homrich-Knieling: This event is so important
because Ded and Flora and the boys
have already been in sanctuary for over 60 days,
We need to keep the pressure up,
So we can stand in the road,
We're giving them an opportunity to keep a family together
that so obviously needs to be together,
[ crowd cheering ]
Crowd: [ chanting ] It's your chance
to do what's right! Let them stay!
Homrich-Knieling: I could definitely use Lorenc
in the campaign,
but he's in such a precarious position with DACA,
He doesn't wanna be targeted by ICE,
I feel like if I got up and spoke,
they might arrest me 'cause I don't know what ICE can do
and what they can't do,
[ amplified voice ] Welcome, So thank you all
for being here today,
It's been eight and a half weeks that the Rranxburgaj family
has been living at Central United Methodist Church,
and it's terrifying every day
for Ded, Flora, Lorenc, and Eric,
Every day they wonder,
"Are they going to force us to get split up?"
And we all know how horrible that would be,
We've been telling this story over and over again,
All we've heard is stony silence,
Flora's M,S, has been flaring up,
We had to call 9-1-1,,,
,,,have an ambulance take her to the hospital,
If he were actually deported,
nobody would be there to take care of her,
We've received 700 letters of support for this family,
[ cheers and applause ]
[ laughs ]
Homrich-Knieling: If I had five minutes
to sit down with the field director,
I think I would ask her, "What would the harm be
in granting this one family a stay of removal?"
Right? Like, what-- who would it hurt?
♪♪♪
Rosario: Today Roxanne is scheduled
to appear before a judge in court,
Due to her financial constraints,
Roxanne must defend herself without legal counsel,
I already have clothes packed, not just for today,
but for a few days just in case something were to go bad,
Roxanne: I try to think so positive on things,
but when it comes down to my hearings,
I get so devastated because
I start to think, oh, this is the last time
I'm gonna be able to do this,
This is the last time I'm gonna see my friends,
This is the last time I'm gonna see my mom or brother,
- [ speaks Spanish ] - Okay, [ speaks Spanish ]
Igualmente, Te quiero mucho,
Mm-hmm,
♪♪♪
I have my asylum application,
I am very scared to go back to my country,
Roxanne: If I get deported, at least I know I tried,
♪♪♪
Preston: Come here and push me!
Wanna go fast or slow?
Preston: Fast,
[ swing creaking ]
Can I go climb some trees?
- You can, - Yay!
Samantha: Our world just completely crumbled,
Joel: I can't believe this is happening to me,
- Jump, - Super! [ speaks indistinctly ]
Samantha: You know, how can they rip him away from our two kids?
Joel: How I'm gonna tell my kids now?
Don't stop me again! No! [ laughs ]
I wanna go slow,
Joel: How I'm gonna tell my kids,
"Oh, I'm sorry, Dad is not gonna be here for Christmas,
He's not gonna be here for your birthday"?
How I'm gonna tell them?
I found some lights!
Samantha: You helped Daddy put up those lights,
[ children shouting, Joel laughing ]
Joel: I'm gonna miss my family the most,
but I'm also gonna miss this country,
which is--this country have given so much,
It give me a beautiful family, I've met so many good people,
They care about me,
Samantha: I think I'm strong enough to handle it,
but, you know, the kids are still gonna need their dad
to have those kind of moments that I can't provide,
you know, for my son that my husband does
or the Daddy's little girl moments with our daughter--
I still can't provide that,
At the end of the night, you know, to put them to bed
and to read 'em a story and to kiss them good night,
♪♪♪
[ birds chirping ]
[ jets roaring in distance ]
Samantha: [ voice breaking ] It's just the kids
I worry about now, and,,, [ sniffles ]
when we kinda spoke a little bit to our son this morning,
we told him that we found a house on the beach,
you know, 'cause he's always wanted to live on the beach,
[ sniffles ] And that, you know, Daddy has to go check it out,
make sure it's safe for us and get it all ready,
and he was excited, part of him, going to the beach,
but then when he realized that he's not gonna be coming home
and he won't be coming home for a bunch of nights
and he might not even ever come back to this house,
then he got really upset,
and then Preston gave Joel
his two favorite stuffed animals,
his little ducky and a lion and then a blanket,,,
[ voice breaking ] that smells like him,
[ sniffling ] And, um,,,
And then he said he would be strong, and then he just,,,
wanted to lay on Daddy's side of the bed
and curled up and kept crying, and I said, "It's okay to cry,"
[ sniffles ] Then he just covered the blanket
over his head and said, "I just wanna be here,
I feel very weak now, I can't be strong,"
[ sniffles ]
♪♪♪
Samantha: This is what this entire journey has been,
hope and down and hope and down,
But at least, I guess today, there'll be closure
and, you know, we'll be able to move forward now
with a,,, [ sniffles ] now it'll be in our control
of what we're gonna do next, you know?
Not theirs anymore, so now we have the power back
to move on with our lives and be free
and then just be together without this anymore, I guess,
You know what your flight time is?
2:55,
Samantha: It's 1:00, We're a little late now,
How do we know what gate he's on?
I will always love you, all right?
Mmm,
Mmm,,,
[ Samantha crying ]
Samantha: I love you so much, Just be careful,
[ Samantha continues crying ]
♪♪♪
Joel: See you soon,
Arthur: Be good,
[ continues sniffling ]
Trump: Innocent Americans are at the mercy
of criminal aliens because state and local officials
defy our immigration laws,
Man: The Trump administration has stepped up enforcement
of the country's immigration laws,
which has led to some high-profile deportations
of people who've lived in the U,S, for years,
Trump: Our highest priority must be the safety and well-being
of our nation's citizens,
So each case that we, uh, that we work up,
we, uh, provide a little bit of background,
We also do an extensive, uh, review of the case
to make sure there's a nexus to immigration, obviously,
Uh, so we look at the criminal history,
uh, they run the information related to
where they might be living,
Every day, our officers are suiting up,
putting a gun on their hip,
and going out there and arresting egregious criminal
from the street, [ siren wailing ]
A lot of people view ICE as a negative force out there,
I think we're a positive force,
I think we're a law enforcement multiplier,
We're human just like anyone else,
We have families, We are caring, We're loving people,
We're fathers and sons and husbands and wives,
We enforce the laws that, you know, Congress has enacted,
and unless that changes, then our mission will change,
♪♪♪
Pablo: We don't know how to plan for it, that's the thing,
When you get detained, it's,,,
it's gonna be a surprise, if anything,
It's gonna be something we're not gonna be fully prepared for,
What we've been told about how ICE sort of operates is that
they don't have, like, a designated vehicle
like a police officer does,
It's just random vehicles,
The one thing they do say is that they don't have plates,
[ gears shift ]
This is where ICE could probably do some scouting out,
if anything,
What would we do if they do come?
Pablo: Our home-- it was a sanctuary for us,
and now we're not safe anywhere,
Look around for any suspicious cars,
'cause they can't park really anywhere else,
and then,,,
We have the cameras, Luna's also our guard dog, basically,
and she can--she'll bark at anything,
I think this is just ridiculous right now,
I mean, what are we doing here, you know?
The only thing separating just from whatever people are
walking around right now,
the only thing we did was be born in another place,
Rosario: The Dunoyer family is awaiting a decision
from the Board of Immigration Appeals Court,
They still have not heard from ICE,
Pablo is not giving up his fight,
He continues to advocate for his family on social media,
Pablo: I don't know what the future holds
for my family, truly,
I don't know what ICE has in store for us,
We still have a removal order on our heads,
This continues every day for my family,
The best thing that came out of this
is that I know I'm not alone,
♪♪♪
[ wind blowing ]
Rosario: The judge awarded Roxanne
an additional month stay,
At her next court hearing, she could face deportation,
Roxanne: I've been through worse,
I survived my dad,
I've gone through the process already of being detained,
I will take whatever the judge has to say that day,
and if I have to do it alone, then I'll do it alone,
♪♪♪
Samantha: There's no way
my children can grow up without their dad,
Can't get me!
I was in the car the other day with him,
and I got upset, and I said,
"I don't really wanna leave this home,"
and he said, "Mommy, it's just a house,"
You know, I have a 7-year-old putting me in place,
checking me, you know? He's like, "It's just a house,"
He goes, "We need to be together,
We need to be with Daddy, and family is what it's all about,"
And I was, like, "Oh, my God, You're 7, and you're--"
so I was like, "You know what? You're right,"
- Preston: Ooh! - Aah! [ giggles ]
[ Samantha continues giggling ]
Okay, I'm going to bed,
Time to go under the covers,
Go to bed,
The thing that keeps me going is just imagining
my kids' faces when they see their dad,
- [ giggles ] That's my turn, - Preston: Okay,
Samantha: And then just being complete again,
- [ shouts indistinctly ] - [ screaming ]
Whoa!
[ Preston and Lila shouting and laughing ]
♪♪♪
Lila: Daddy! Daddy!
Daddy! Daddy!
Preston: Oh!
What's in this room, Lila? Let's go look in this room,
Yeah! That's my room!
What's in this room, Daddy? My,,, [ shouts indistinctly ]
Lila: Mommy, no, he's gonna,,,
The other black bag in your car that looks like this?
'Cause the woman at the airport gave me this,
That's not your--Wait, Joel, you didn't even get to show them
and they already found your surprise,
[ dog barking in distance ]
Fuck!
- Who's yelling? Joel? - Joel: Somebody broke in,
Samantha: How did somebody break in this house?
I thought it was a gated community,
- What are you talking about? - It is a gated community,
Look it,
I don't understand,
Joel: Here,
Samantha: Why--what did you leave unlocked?
They break through here,
They smash the window, They open everything,
[ dog barking in distance ]
- Joel? - Oh, my God!
Ugh!
Guys, wait a minute, Somebody broke--broke into our home,
Joel: They took my wedding ring,
We are in a gated community, We're paying for security,
Samantha: How did they break in?
- Joel: They jump off somewhere, - What room did they break into?
They break in our room,
Samantha: Are you fucking kidding me?!
- They stole your cash? - Yeah,
How much money did you have?
Like $4K,
[ crying ]
[ loud thump ]
Preston: Uh, excuse me, Mommy?
We can climb over that wall,
We could jump up to the wall over there,
[ dog barking in distance ]
[ Joel speaking Spanish ]
You don't do scared, buddy,
They just came to take the stuff,
They didn't came to hurt us, okay?
[ crying ]
Shh, Everything's gonna be fine, okay?
- Okay, - [ kisses ]
Samantha: I don't feel safe here,
Like, that's the thing, It's like, you must have talked
to somebody that knew we were coming today
and thought that there would be a lot of stuff to steal,
I didn't talk,
- My husband was deported, - Man: No, I understand,
And I picked up my entire life to come here,
- Man: I want you to be calm, - And the the first day I'm in,
my house--the house I was supposed to be just--
Man: I know, I understand,
How am I supposed to sleep tonight?
- Man: Honestly, I feel-- - Okay?
Man: Okay, Definitely, definitely yes, I understand,
[ sniffles ] I don't feel safe here,
and that's all I care about, is my kids being safe,
Samantha: No, Uh,,,
No, no, there are no robbers, honey,
You're safe, Don't worry, [ sniffles ]
I don't wanna be here now,
[ sniffles ] But I wanna take Joel home with me,
[ sniffling ]
[ crickets chirping ]
Joel: I don't care about what those people took today from me,
My kids and my wife-- it's all I have,
And we're right here, I wanna do a piggy ride,
This is my--my life,
As long as we're together, we're happy, you know?
I think that money's important, but not more than love,
Rosario: Joel currently has a 10-year ban
from entering the United States,
He continues to fight his case,
♪♪♪
Zundel: So we're like David and Goliath here,
I'm hoping that the constant pressure that we continue
to put on immigration will do something,
We're going to stand for the higher law
and protect this family,
The one thing that has worked in this type of cases
around the country, and there's precedent for it,
is public pressure,
It would have the effect of at least
making the officials take a second look,
The more time that goes on, the scarier it is,
but we're not gonna stop until ICE grants Ded
a stay of removal,
I have hope and optimism that we can do something
that convinces them,
I honestly just want the most American average life,
I know a lot of people wouldn't want that,
but that's-- that's probably my dream,
And then family, like, 15 minutes away,
not too close, not too far, [ chuckles ]
♪♪♪
Rosario: Ded is still in sanctuary caring for Flora,
Caitlin and Reverend Jill continue to mobilize support
for the Rranxburgaj family,
Lorenc is hopeful he will keep his DACA status,
ICE classifies Ded as a fugitive,
Therefore, he is ineligible for a stay of removal,
Ded is suing ICE to have his fugitive status lifted,
♪♪♪
Is our immigration system and the way that we define it
making us better? Safer?
How can we fix our problems around immigration?
There's not one perspective or one viewpoint,
There's not one right answer in regards to this,
and the only way we can make change
is by understanding the problem
and working together to make said change,
We have to ask ourselves, is this the America
that we wanna be?
Woman: ♪ We were made to be free ♪
Man: ♪ Torch's light is dripping, people drowning ♪
♪ When they should be swimmin' ♪
♪ Swimming in an ocean of freedom ♪
♪ Nation misleadin', America bleedin' ♪
♪ And it just keep recedin' ♪
♪ With every family that you see that's left weepin' ♪
♪ Split up, expelled, taken away ♪
♪ Life is too short to be living this way ♪
♪ Each day walking out is rolling the dice ♪
♪ Until they get stuck ♪
♪ Frozen like,,, ♪