Sometimes the meaning of Memorial Day gets lost among the rush to beaches and backyard BBQs. You can honor those who have served in a variety of ways — watch the Memorial Day Concert, record the history of a vet for the National Archives, or find resources for military families and returning vets.

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	National Memorial Day Concert On the eve of Memorial Day, a star-studded line-up will grace the stage for one of PBS’ highest-rated programs. Live on PBS from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol! Sunday, May 26th, from 8:00 to 9:30 pm ET (check local listings).
	Military families The emotional impact of combat on those serving in the military is well recognized. But what about the military families left behind? We profile three families to see the sacrifices military spouses and children make every day.
	Nursing the wounded To understand the myriad ways nurses are working in veterans care, Need to Know recently visited a Veterans Affairs hospital in San Diego, and profiled three nurses there.
	Coming home: hardships of returning vets Young veterans often have difficulty finding work when they return from war, leading to extreme financial hardship and, in some cases, homelessness.
	Women under fire If you saw the Oscar-nominated film “The Hurt Locker,” you may have been left with the impression that the military’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (E.O.D) team is a men’s only club.
	Veterans Oral History Project There are over 20 million veterans in American today, but with over 1,100 war veterans dying each day, there is an urgent need to collect their personal accounts of their war time experiences while they are still among us.
	Origins of Memorial Day After the Civil War, freed African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina established the tradition of what we have come to know as Memorial Day — From “Death and the Civil War”

Read the transcript.

(This episode was originally broadcast on March 1, 2013.)

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	Web exclusive: Taking on poverty in Salinas Poverty trends in Salinas may be an important case study for the United States, as shifting demographics create new challenges for policy-makers across the country.
	Steinbeck’s The Harvest Gypsies Before he wrote his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck was commissioned by The San Francisco News to write a series of newspaper articles on the migrant laborers of the Salinas Valley.
	Slideshow: Steinbeck’s Salinas John Steinbeck’s hometown came to worldwide notice through The Grapes of Wrath. Not all city fathers were pleased by the portrait. Explore what has changed and what remains the same in Salinas.

Former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party Nawaz Sharif, center, addresses his supporters as his brother Shahbaz Sharif, right, and daughter Maryam Nawaz, second from left, listen at a party office in Lahore, Pakistan, Saturday, May 11, 2013. Photo: AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary

Last weekend, Pakistan went to the ballot box to elect its parliament. Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted in a military coup led by Pervez Musharraf in 1999, won. It is a significant milestone in Pakistan’s history: the transition from one elected government to another. So is Pakistan on the path to normalcy?

It’s still a bit early to celebrate. Saturday’s election was marred by unfortunate violence. Bombs in Karachi and Peshawar killed dozens, marring the otherwise moving pictures of vast lines of people eager to vote. In the months leading up to the vote, Pakistan saw an incredible amount of violence against candidates for office: the Taliban, in particular, targeted the ruling party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), along with its governing coalition partners the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP).

It’s likely that violence targeted at only a few parties distorted the results of the election – how could it not? But some are arguing that even this much was a good thing. Megan Reif, a professor at the University of Colorado Denver, and Nadia Naviwala, the country representative in Pakistan for the United States Institute of Peace, argued in a provocative Foreign Policy article that the election violence was actually good for democracy.

“Pakistan’s 2008 elections were bloodier,” the write, referring to the election that unseated Musharraf and emplaced Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of Benazir Bhutto and current head of the PPP. “Islamist parties have never won more than about five percent of the vote in any of Pakistan’s elections….The apparent increase in the extremists’ use of violence in this historic election is a sign, not of their strength, but of their increasing irrelevance in a society that is moving forward with regular, competitive elections between mainstream parties.”

There might be something to this. Despite the carnage, for the first time in its 66-year history Pakistan has successfully transitioned from one democratically elected government to the next. It wasn’t peaceful, but it was less violent than in 2008. Moreover, election turnout was around 60% — a new high. Progress is progress.

Nevertheless, Pakistan faces enormous challenges. Shockingly, Pakistan expelled New York Times reporter Declan Walsh, one of the most insightful and hard working foreign reporters in the country. Pakistan’s pretensions to respecting press freedom – a laudable goal it clearly strives toward – looks hollow when that’s how it treats one of the best foreign reporters there.

There are also a growing number of worrying reports that women were systematically excluded from voting in some districts. As a rule women shouldn’t be excluded from anything; but in an election as vitally important as Saturday’s was, such exclusion can be incredibly damaging: it has the potential to invalidate the election, leaving a difficult and probably violent re-vote as the only recourse.

And despite stunning rise of Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the PPP and Sharif’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PMLN), dominate the civilian government (and have dominated Pakistani politics for decades). Khan sought to unseat them both by promising an end to their domination of the country – a message that resonated with many educated elites and expatriates but wasn’t quite enough to push them aside.

Khan isn’t quite the savior to Pakistan that many of his followers think, either. Before the election, Khan had developed an alarming habit of downplaying the Taliban’s violence in the country while focusing blame for all of their political, social, religious, and security challenges on the U.S. His brinksmanship toward the U.S. – promising to shoot down drones and oppose “militarism” – also made American policymakers ill at ease.

Nawaz Sharif has promised to work with Imran Khan, and has even promised good relations with America as well. But when Zardari became president in 2008, he made similar statements. Relations between Washington and Islamabad did not improve over the subsequent years, to say the least.

More immediately for Pakistan, there are two big challenges Sharif will have to tackle. The most immediate is the Taliban, which carried out most of the pre-election violence. In the last five years alone, more than 25,000 Pakistanis have died in terrorism-related violence since 2008, and about 49,000 have died since 2001. The military has lost over 15,000 troops, including several generals. There is nothing in recent memory in the U.S., not even the September 11th attacks, that is comparable to such losses. Sharif has lashed out at the military in recent months, blaming it for the current dreadful state of security. Resolving that fundamental dispute, which has also defined much of Pakistan’s politics the last few decades, will be crucial.

Less dramatic, but still vitally important for Pakistan is the looming energy crisis. Frequent brownouts, blackouts, and “load shedding” have created havoc for the country’s economy – factories and offices simply cannot operate if there is no power. The PMLN has promised to make energy a top priority, but it won’t come easy. The desperate quest for more energy has led Pakistan to reach out to Iran, a move sure to further antagonize the U.S.

Pakistan is not out of the woods yet. But this weekend’s election was a hopeful first step in the right direction.

ANNOUNCER [narration]: THIS IS NEED TO KNOW WITH MARIA HINOJOSA…SCOTT SIMON… RAY SUAREZ AND THIS WEEK JEFF GREENFIELD. ON THIS EDITION…MANY HAVE AMERICAN CHILDREN, HOLD AMERICAN JOBS, AND PAY AMERICAN TAXES…

PRESIDENT OBAMA: They’re looking out for their families, they’re looking out for their neighbors. They are woven into the fabric of our lives.

ANNOUNCER [narration]: BUT EVEN AS CONGRESS INCHES CLOSER TO A DEAL THAT COULD INCLUDE A PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP FOR ELEVEN MILLION UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS – A GROWING NUMBER OF THEM ARE STILL BEING DEPORTED – AND MANY ARE DYING WHEN THEY TRY TO RETURN.

GLADYS DOMINGUEZ:  He called us and told us when your dad was dying the only thing he was saying was ‘I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I want go back to my kids.’

ANNOUNCER [narration]: NEXT ON NEED TO KNOW.

JEFF GREENFIELD: Welcome to Need to Know. Thanks for joining us. You’ve probably heard that illegal immigration into the United States from Mexico has slowed dramatically in recent years. Some attribute that to better border security. Others say it’s all about jobs. There aren’t as many jobs as there used to be in the United States. Whatever the cause, the trend is unmistakable. Which makes another trend even more noteworthy. Even as illegal crossings decline, the number of deaths along the border is soaring. What’s behind that trend? This week, part 3 of Need to Know’s ongoing investigation into our border policies and procedures, done in conjunction with the Nation Institute. John Larson investigates.

DR. GREG HESS: On the remains we had some U.S. currency, this cross here is fairly distinctive.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: YOU’RE LOOKING AT THE PERSONAL BELONGINGS OF A MAN KNOWN TO THE STATE OF ARIZONA AS CASE ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED FIFTY FIVE.

DR. GREG HESS: We have a Santa Muerte here, We have a couple of necklaces

JOHN LARSON [narration]: IN THE LOCKED FILES – THOUSANDS OF ITEMS BELONGING TO HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE… ALL OF WHOM WERE FOUND DEAD.

IN MORTUARIES AND COUNTY OFFICES FROM TEXAS TO CALIFORNIA,
LAY UNIDENTIFIED REMAINS OF PEOPLE WHO CROSSED INTO THE UNITED STATES – ILLEGALLY –ONLY TO BECOME FOOTNOTES IN THE MOST LETHAL CHAPTER IN RECENT U.S. IMMIGRATION HISTORY.

DR. GREG HESS [Off-Camera]: So this is our indoor cooler.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: SILENT PARTICIPANTS IN THE NATIONAL DEBATE ON IMMIGRATION REFORM.

DR. GREG HESS: This cooler holds up to 120 remains.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: BECAUSE EVEN AS THE ADMINISTRATION SUPPORTS A POSSIBLE PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP FOR MANY OF THE NATION’S 11 MILLION UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS…MANY OF THOSE SAME PEOPLE ARE NOW BEING ROUNDED UP, DEPORTED IN RECORD NUMBERS, AND ARE DYING AT A HISTORIC RATE,TRYING TO GET BACK TO THEIR FAMILIES IN AMERICA.

SON AT GRAVE YARD: I just wanted to say goodbye to him I wanted to say something.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: THE PRESIDENT HAS HIT THE ROAD TO SELL IMMIGRATION REFORM TO THE PUBLIC…

PRESIDENT OBAMA: For comprehensive immigration reform to work, it must be clear from the outset that there is a pathway to citizenship.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: AND YET BY THE END OF THIS YEAR OBAMA WILL HAVE PRESIDED OVER MORE ARRESTS AND DEPORTATIONS THAN ANY AMERICAN PRESIDENT … 2 MILLION PEOPLE IN FIVE YEARS, MANY – THE SAME PEOPLE HE SAYS DESERVE TO BE CITIZENS, INCLUDING SOME WHO WIND UP HERE.

DR. GREG HESS: So this is 2012 case number 2637.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: When DR. GREG Hess was a MEDICAL EXAMINER in Milwaukee, WiscONSIN, one year he had just one, unidentified body. as MEDICAL EXAMINER HERE In pima county, Arizona, he’s had oVER TWO thousand. back In the 1990’s WHEN ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION WAS HIGH, the number of migrants dying in the ARIZONA desert was LOW, literally – just a handful.

DR. GREG HESS: But you can see here, I can almost grab with one hand the unidentified remains from the nineties. Then all of a sudden we get 2000, 2001, 2002, and all these are from the 2000s.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: What happened? why MORE THAN 2,500 MIGRANTS have now died in AZ alone SINCE THE YEAR 2000, MAY HAVE A LOT TO dO WITH a relatively recent change in US immigration policy – a change called: prevention through Deterrence which began in 1994.

THAD BINGEL: The deterrent strategy began as just a basic response to where traffic was happening, illegal activity.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: THAD BINGEL WAS THE CHIEF OF STAFF FOR U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION FROM 2007 TO 2009. HE SAYS IN THE 80S AND 90S ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAME IN WAVES, MOSTLY IN URBAN AREAS WITH FEW FENCES TO STOP THEM.
THAD BINGEL: At that time you literally, dozens of people– a day just you know where you could see them in groups running across the border in San Diego.  There wasn’t fence there.
JOHN LARSON [narration]: BUT THAT QUICKLY CHANGED. THE U.S. GOVERNMENT NOW PATROLS 651 MILES OF FENCE, SPENDING OVER 11 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR ON INCREASED BORDER SECURITY. AND IN SOME WAYS – IT WORKED – FEWER PEOPLE NOW CROSS ILLEGALLY.

But the strategy was nOt just to keep people out, but to funnel those who made it across the border into the desert, INTO “MORE HOSTILE TERRAINE, LESS SUITED FOR CROSSING AND MORE SUITED FOR ENFORCEMENT”… where they might be easier to catch. As a US Border Patrol Video shown to the public in 2009 put it:

BORDER PATROL VIDEO: We now have the tactical advantage and we only need to exploit that advantage.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: While THE GOAL MAY HAVE BEEN TO MAKE IT EASIER TO CATCH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS – it had an unintended consequence: MANY MORE OF THOSE CROSSING – ARE DYING.
CECILIA ARMENTA: The temperature is getting really bad. It’s scary.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: WE JOINED a group of volunteers, and This american mother IN A SEARCH FOR HER HUSBAND IN THE ARIZONA DESERT. HER HUSBAND WAS DEPORTED FROM THE U.S. AND WAS LOST TRYING TO RE-ENTER THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY.

HE WAS TRAVELLING THE SO CALLED – DEVIL’S HIGHWAY – A TANGLED WEB OF TRAILS LEADING NORTH FROM MEXICO TO ARIZONA AND INTO THIS VALLEY – WHERE TEMPERATURES CAN REACH 120 DEGREES, AND THE DESERT IS FILLED WITH SNAKES, SCOPRIONS AND SMUGGLERS.

IT IS LITERALLY A VALLEY OF DEATH – THE MAP SHOWING WHERE THE BODIES OF MIGRANTS HAVE BEEN FOUND. CECILIA’S HUSBAND HAD BEEN ABANDONED BY HIS TRAVELLING COMPANIONS, AND WAS DELIRIOUS WHEN CECILIA GOT THREW TO HIM ON HIS CELL PHONE. IT WAS THE LAST TIME THEY TALKED.

CECILIA ARMENTA: And I said that I loved him and he was like I love you and the baby. It was really hard.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: TWO MONTHS AFTER THAT FINAL CALL, SHE STILL PAYS HIS CELL PHONE BILLS, HOPING HE’LL CALL AGAIN.

CECILIA ARMENTA: And I didn’t hear anything from him since.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ON ANOTHER SEARCH, IN TEXAS, WE GOT A FIRST HAND LESSON JUST HOW QUICKLY THE DESERT MIGHT TAKE A LIFE.

HERNANDEZ: I need more water please!

JOHN LARSON [narration]: THIS WOMAN IS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. SHE HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR HER NEPHEW, WHO HAD DECIDED TO ENTER THE COUNTRY ILLEGALLY. DURING THE SEARCH, SHE WAS OVERCOME BY THE HEAT. DESPITE FLUIDS, AND SHADE – HER SYMPTOMS ESCALATE.

HERNANDEZ: Tiene mas agua por favor.

VOLUNTEER: Tiene que! Tiene que!

JOHN LARSON [narration]: SHE WOULD EVENTUALLY RECOVER. THE NEXT DAY HOWEVER, SHE WOULD FIND HER NEPHEW’S BODY IN A LOCAL MORGUE.

ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST, HUNDREDS OF UNIDENTIFIED MIGRANTS ARE BURIED IN LOCAL CEMETARIES, WITHOUT NAMES. OTHERS ARE BURIED IN CEMETERIES FOR THE UNKNOWN – AMONG THE QUIETEST PLACES IMAGINABLE.

ANDREW LEHREN: So what do we know about people dying on the border?

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ANDREW LEHREN, A REPORTER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES, TEACHES GRADUATE INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM IN NEW YORK. AT OUR REQUEST, HIS STUDENTS SERCHED THOUSANDS OF MEXICAN AND U.S. GOVERNMENT FILES, DEATH RECORDS IN COUNTIES ALL ALONG THE BORDER, AND MADE TWO STARTLING OBSERVATIONS: ONE, THAT WHILE THE NUMBER OF ILLEGAL CROSSINGS HAS PLUMMETED – ALMOST 80% LESS THAN IN PEAK YEARS, THE NUMBER OF DEATHS HAS ACTUALLY INCREASED. MEANING THAT FOR THOSE COMING INTO THE COUNTRY, IT IS NOW MORE DEADLY – MORE LETHAL – THAN AT ANY TIME IN RECENT U.S. IMMIGRATION HISTORY.

ANDREW LEHREN: So your chances of dying crossing the border as an illegal are greater now then they were say ten years ago.

HANNAH: That’s what the data and reports seem to show.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: AND, THAT FOR YEARS THE AGE OF THOSE DYING HAS BEEN CONSTANT – THEY HAVE BEEN YOUNG – BUT FOR UNKNOWN REASONS – NOT ANY MORE.

GARRET: Ten years ago they were in their late twenties up to like maybe 30 and now the average age is more around 34.

ANDREW LEHREN: The thing we don’t know is what’s compelling people to cross the border. Particularly people getting older.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: WHAT MAY BE COMPELLING OLDER IMMIGRANTS TO RISK DEATH IN THE DESERT IS THIS: MORE AND MORE OFTEN, THEY ARE MOTHERS AND FATHERS WHO HAVE LONG HAD HOMES IN THE UNITED STATES, WITH AMERICAN CHILDREN WHO DEPEND ON THEM. WHY THE SHIFT?

SINCE 2009, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION HAS EXPANDED A BUSH ADMINISTRATION POLICY, EMPOWERING LOCAL POLICE TO HELP THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ARREST UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS.

NAT: You’re under arrest for no driver’s license.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: CALLED ‘SECURE COMMUNITES,’ THE PROGRAM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY DEPORTATIONS. BUT MOST ARRESTS WERE NOT ON THE BORDER, BUT IN THE INTERIOR –SWEEPING UP PEOPLE WHO EVEN SOME OF THE PRESIDENTS CRITICS NOW BELIEVE SHOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR CITIZENSHIP.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO: Most of these people have been here for more than a decade. They have children that are U.S. citizens they may even own property, they work. They’re here and they’re never going to go back.

JEREMY SLACK: These are people that actually have a lot of connections to the U.S. and this has increased dramatically even over the past three or four years.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: JEREMY SLACK A DOCTORAL CANDIDATE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA IS THE AUTHOR OF A NEW STUDY CALLED “IN THE SHADOW OF THE WALL.” STACK AND COWORKERS INTERVIEWED 1,100 DEPORTED MIGRANTS OVER FOUR YEARS AND LEARNED THOSE CAUGHT IN ‘SECURE COMMUNITIES’ OPERATIONS MAY HAVE HELPED PUSH DEPORTATIONS TO RECORD LEVELS, BUT WERE ALSO THE MOST LIKELY DEPORTEES TO COME RIGHT BACK.

JEREMY SLACK: And so one in four people has at least one U.S. citizen child that’s under the age of eighteen. And this is largely one of the reasons why you’re seeing so many people, attempting to cross despite all the dangers, of undocumented migration.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION, WHY DON’T DEPORTEES JUST STAY IN MEXICO – BRING THEIR AMERICAN FAMILIES SOUTH, AND START OVER AGAIN… IN MEXICO? SLACK SAYS SOME DO, BUT IT IS DIFFICULT, FOR PEOPLE WITH LITTLE MONEY.

JEREMY SLACK: So how do you uproot your family, get rid of all your stuff, take them out of school, move them back to a place in Mexico where you don’t necessarily know anyone, don’t have a job and don’t have any way to support them. This becomes a really difficult choice.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: NEED TO KNOW TRAVELED SOUTH TO NOGALES, A MEXICAN BORDER TOWN SOUTH OF ARIZONA – WHERE WE, FOUND DOZENS OF IMMIGRANTS FRESHLY DEPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES. WE ASKED HOW MANY HAD FAMILIES IN AMERICA – MOST EVERYONE IN THE ROOM RAISED THEIR HAND.

LISTEN TO ALMOST ANYONE HERE – SEPARATED FROM THEIR CHILDREN IN AMERICA – AND THEY’LL TELL YOU, THEY ARE GOING BACK. LIKE LEONARDO, A CONSTRUCTION WORKER FROM NEVADA, WHO LIVED WITH HIS AMERICAN WIFE AND AMERICAN KIDS FOR TEN YEARS BEFORE BEING DEPORTED.

LEONARDO: They tell me: Daddy, I miss you. I want to see you. I love you too much. I want to see you.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: NOW, HE WILL TRY CROSSING THE DESERT, AGAIN.

LEONARDO: I don’t want my daughter growing up without me.. that’s why I put myself in danger crossing the desert

JOHN LARSON [narration]: HOW THIS PLAYS OUT, WHILE DISCUSSIONS OF IMMIGRATION REFORM CONTINUE IN WASHINGTON, CAN BE ESPECIALLY PAINFUL FOR THE AMERICAN FAMILIES, AND CHILDREN OF DEPORTEES.

GLADYS DOMINGUEZ: My mom had sent him to go get milk and, um, tortillas.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: GLADYS DOMINGUEZ, IS THE 19-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER OF ALFONSO MARTINEZ SANCHEZ , A 39 YEAR OLD FATHER OF 5 AMERICAN CHILDREN, WHO HAD LIVED IN THE U.S. FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS. ONE DAY, ALFONSO WENT TO HIS NEIGHBORHOOD CONVENIENCE STORE IN VISTA, CALIFORNIA. A COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPUTY ASKED FOR HIS IDENTIFICATION, ARRESTED HIM, AND TURNED HIM OVER TO FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AGENTS.

HIS WIFE JUANA ARRIVED WITH THEIR CHILDREN JUST IN TIME TO SEE HIM IN THE BACK OF A POLICE CAR, HANDCUFFED AND WEEPING.

JUANA: I think he was crying, because I brought my kids and he was looking out from inside.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: HE WAS DEPORTED TO MEXICO WHERE HE MET THIS MAN.

ISAAC: Alfonso was a little shy. He was afraid of Tijuana, to walk around alone on the street because of the police.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ISAAC IS ALSO AN UNDOCUMENTED WORKER IN THE UNITED STATES, AND LIKE ALFONSO, WAS ALSO TRYING TO GET BACK TO HIS WIFE AND AMERICAN CHILDREN IN CALIFORNIA. THE TWO FATHERS BONDED QUICKLY, AND DECIDED TO TRY SNEAK BACK ACROSS THE BORDER TOGETHER.

JOHN LARSON: I know there’s people who must be thinking, your father’s big mistake was that he came to the country illegally. You know, if he hadn’t done that, you’d all still be together.

GLADYS DOMINGUEZ: We have nothing in Mexico. We don’t have a house, my mom and my dad have been here for over twenty years. They don’t know anyone there. We don’t know anyone there.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: WHILE THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT SNEAKING BACK INTO THE UNITED STATES IS AGAINST THE LAW, BOTH MEN WOULD BE AMONG THE UUNDOCUMENTED WORKERS CONSIDERED FOR CITIZENSHIP UNDER PENDING LEGISLATION.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: They’re looking out for their families.  They’re looking out for their neighbors.  They’re woven into the fabric of our lives.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ALFONSO WORKED AS A BUTCHER, A LANDSCAPER, AND A CONSTRUCTION WORKER FOR NEARLY TWO DECADES, ISAAC WORKED IN THE FIELDS – BOTH WERE RAISING FAMILIES WHO DEPEND ON THEM – OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, THEY TRY FOUR TIMES TO RE-ENTER THE U.S. EACH TIME, THEY ARE CAUGHT OR DETERRED BY U.S. BORDER PATROL.

WHEN THEY WERE CAUGHT THE FIRST TIME, ISAAC WAS SENT BACK TO TIJUANA. ALFONSO WAS FLOWN 1500 MILES AND RETURNED TO MEXICO. IT’S A POLICY CALLED LATERAL DEPORTATION.

THAD BINGEL: Border Patrol found that in incidents where someone was apprehended and put right back across close to where they were apprehended they almost immediately hooked up with the coyote or smuggler who had attempted to get them across and they would make repeated attempts.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: MANY OF THOSE BEING LATERALLY DEPORTED, INCLUDING ALFONSO, END UP IN MATAMOROS, MEXICO, HOME TO ONE OF MEXICO’S MOST BRUTAL CARTELS INFAMOUS FOR PREYING ON MIGRANTS – STEALING THEIR MONEY, KIDNAPPING AND KILLING THEM. IN 2010 72 MIGRANTS WERE HAULED OFF A BUS ON THE WAY TO MATAMOROS, AND MASSACRED. LATER, BODIES OF ANOTHER 200 MIGRANTS WERE FOUND BURIED IN MASS GRAVES.

JEREMY SLACK: They’ve been know to prey on migrants, on deportees, as a stream of money

JOHN LARSON [narration]: JEREMY SLACK SAYS NOT ONLY DOES LATERAL DEPORTION COST US TAX PAYERS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR BUT IMMIGRANTS WHO ARE LATERALLY DEPORTED ARE JUST AS LIKELY TO TRY TO RETURN TO THE U.S.

THAT WAS CERTAINLY THE CASE FOR ALFONSO, WHO TOOK THE FIRST BUS OUT OF TOWN AND REJOINED ISAAC FOR ANOTHER TRY.

ISAAC: He said, Come with me! It won’t be bad, let’s go! So I said, fine, let’s go then.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: AND SO ALONG WITH 21 OTHER MIGRANTS THEY BEGIN THEIR FOURTH EFFORT TO ENTER THE U.S. ACCOMPANYING THEM IS A GUIDE – A COYOTE – PAID TO LEAD THEM THROUGH THE ARIZONA DESERT ON WHAT HE TELLS THEM WILL BE A ONE DAY, ONE NIGHT WALK.

ISAAC: We brought tuna, we brought crackers, we brought bread, things to eat, apples. and water, water more than anything else.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: THERE IS NO BORDER FENCE HERE, BECAUSE THE AMERICAN SIDE IS OWNED BY THE TOHONO O’ODHAM NATION – IT’S A NATIVE AMERICAN RESERVATION – AND SOON THE MIGRANTS CROSS THE BORDER.

HOURS INTO THEIR TRIP, THEIR GUIDE TELLS THEM AN AWFUL TRUTH – THEIR WALK IS NOT 1-2 DAYS AS PROMISED, BUT 4 OR 5 DAYS.

ISAAC: And that’s when I said to Alfonso, do you see that they lied to us? It is a lot of time.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: THE NEXT DAY THEY CLIMB IN MOUNTAINOUS COUNTRY. AT 330 IN THE AFTERNOON, THEY ENTER A BROAD, HOT VALLEY. AND ALFONSO IS STRUGGLING. THE TEMPERATURE: 115 DEGREES.

ISAAC: He said, I feel ill. And after about 5 minutes he started to feel worse. And he started to pray to God that he didn’t want to die, and he loved his children, and he loved his family, and he just started to go crazy, writhing and shouting.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ALFONSO IS IN THE GRIPS OF HEAT STROKE — HE BEGINS CONVULSING – SO VIOLENTLY ISAAC HAS TO HOLD HIM TO KEEP HIM FROM HURTING HIMSELF. DURING THE STRUGGLE, THE GUIDE RETURNS, TAKES ALL OF THEIR FOOD AND MOST OF THEIR WATER AND THEN ABANDONS THEM.

JOHN LARSON: So you’re both being left to die.

ISAAC: Uh huh, Si.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ALFONSO MAY NOT HAVE HAD TO BE IN THIS SITUATION AT ALL. BEFORE HE WAS DEPORTED, HE TOLD HIS WIFE IMMIGRATION AGENTS HAD PRESSURED HIM TO WAIVE HIS RIGHT TO AN IMMIGRATION HEARING – A HEARING THAT MIGHT HAVE RESULTED IN HIM BEING ALLOWED TO STAY IN THE U.S. TO SUPPORT HIS FIVE DEPENDENT CHILDREN.

JUANA: They scared him. They said that if he didn’t sign, they would keep him there for a long time.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: AS STRANGE AS THAT SOUNDS, THE ARIZONA STUDY SAYS THAT 28% OF DEPORTEES INTERVIEWED ALSO FELT FORCED OR PRESSURED TO SIGN AWAY THEIR RIGHTS.

TWO HOURS AFTER ALFONSO FALLS ILL, ISAAC BUILDS A LARGE SIGNAL FIRE TO ATTRACT THE BORDER PATROL, SO ALFONSO CAN BE SAVED BUT NO LUCK.

ISAAC: I thought about staying there with him until sunrise, but I said to myself, I have to look for help

JOHN LARSON [narration]: HE CLIMBS THE NEAREST RIDGE HOPING TO GET A CELL SIGNAL ON ALFONSO’S PHONE.

ISAAC: And I turned it on, and I implored God, and I said, My God, help him.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: HE MIRACULOUSLY GETS A SIGNAL. SOON AFTER, TWO BORDER PATROL OFFICERS ARRIVE IN A TRUCK. ISAAC SAYS HE TELLS THEM THEY MUST QUICKLY GO TOGETHER TO RESCUE ALFONSO, AND TELLS THEM EXACTLY WHERE HE IS. INSTEAD, THEY ARREST HIM AND IMMEDIATELY TAKE ISAAC TO DETENTION, ASSURING HIM THAT OTHER AGENTS WERE SEARCHING FOR ALFONSO AND WOULD RESCUE HIM.

THAD BINGEL, THE FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, SAYS THAT IF ISAAC’S STORY IS TRUE, THE AGENTS DID NOT ACT PROPERLY.

THAD BINGEL: It’d be very unusual if they thought the person with them– was trying to help them identify a location that they wouldn’t take advantage of that information. That would not be normal protocol.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: TWO AND A HALF DAYS AFTER ALFONSO GOT SICK, ISAAC IS DEPORTED TO MEXICO. HE IMMEDIATELY CALLS ALFONSO’S FAMILY.

GLADYS DOMINGUEZ: In my head I thought, Okay, it’s Saturday night, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, if he managed to find a tree, stay under the tree, and if he had a little bit of water, he could have stayed alive there.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ALFONSO’S DAUGHTER GLADYS, AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, MAKES DOZENS OF FRANTIC PHONE CALLS TO THE BORDER PATROL IN ARIZONA – ASKING IF HER FATHER IS DETAINED OR IN THE HOSPITAL? SHE SAYS THE BORDER PATROL GIVES HER NO ANSWERS.

JOHN LARSON: How long was it until somebody said, Okay, here’s exactly who you need to call, maybe they can help?

GLADYS DOMINGUEZ: They didn’t say that. They didn’t say that. I, um I kept on researching on the Internet till I found BORSTAR.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: BORSTAR – THE BORDER PATROL’S SEARCH, TRAUMA AND RESCUE UNIT.

BORDER PATROL VIDEO: This is the part of US customs and border protections mission that rarely makes headlines. Rescuing those in trouble along our southern border.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ITS MISSION, TO “PROVIDE LIFE SAVING AID” TO THE “DISTRESSED… MIGRANTS ALONG THE BORDER.”

THAD BINGEL: It’s pretty rare for a law enforcement agency to basically create a rescue unit just to deal with people who are basically engaged in illegal activity, crossing the border– in a humanitarian way.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: SO GLADYS CALLS BORSTAR, AND TELLS THEM HER FATHER IS DYING IN THE DESERT.

BUT GLADYS SAYS WHEN SHE CALLED, SHE WAS PUT ON HOLD, TRANSFERRED, OR TOLD TO TALK TO SOMEONE ELSE.

FINALLY, FOUR AND A HALF DAYS AFTER ALFONSO FELL ILL, THE BORDER PATROL MEETS ISAAC AT THE BORDER AND TAKES HIM TO RESCUE HIS FRIEND IN THE DESERT. ONCE THEY ARRIVE IN THE AREA, AND START WALKING, IT TAKES JUST 45 MINUTES TO LOCATE ALFONSO.

ISAAC: It was the hardest thing for me because… of how I left him and how I found him…

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ALFONSO’S WAS LATER IDENTIFIED BY HIS DENTAL RECORDS AND PERSONAL ITEMS … HIS JACKET… WATCH… KEY CHAIN… ALL WOUND UP AS EXHIBITS IN THAT PIMA COUNTRY MORGUE. HIS BODY WAS FOUND EXACTLY WHERE ISAAC HAD LEFT HIM, EXACTLY WHERE HE SAYS HE HAD TOLD BORDER PATROL AGENTS ALMOST 5 DAYS EARLIER TO SEARCH FOR HIM.

JOHN LARSON: I have the toughest question for you. Do you ever think about those last hours of what must have been going through his mind?

GLADYS DOMINGUEZ: Every day. I think about it every day.

JOHN LARSON:  What do you think he was thinking?

GLADYS DOMINGUEZ:  Because the last thing…Isaac called us and he told us, when your dad was dying the only thing he was saying was “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I want to get back to my kids. I wanna make it with my kids. I have to make it with my kids. I need to get back. And I just imagine him all by himself in the freaking desert, just laying there.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ISAAC SAYS HE’S CONVINCED THAT BORDER PARTOL NEVER BOTHERED LOOKING FOR ALFONSO THAT FIRST NIGHT, OR EVER.

JOHN LARSON: They might say, listen, it’s a huge desert. It was in the middle of the night. We were looking for him. But we just didn’t find him.

ISAAC: No the truth, I think is that they didn’t look for him. I think they just left him there.

JOHN LARSON: And what about all the people in the United States who would say, if you and Alfonso had just stayed in Mexico, he’d still be alive tonight.

ISAAC: We came to work, we didn’t come to take anything. We came to struggle to make a life.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: WE ASKED THE BORER PATROL WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT – FOR TAPES OF ISAAC’S 911 CALL, FOR ANY DETAILS OF THEIR SEARCH FOR ALFONSO. THEY HAVE SO FAR, OFFERED NO INFORMATION. BUT THAD BINGEL SAYS THAT BORDER PATROL IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ALFONSO’S DEATH AND OTHERS LIKE HIS.

THAD BINGEL: I put the blame for putting people at risk of death largely on the criminal organizations on the south side who are– are deceiving people into thinking oh, you just have to walk, you know, a couple miles and you’ll hit the road when really they’re talking 20 miles– or more in really, really hostile conditions.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: ALFONSO’S FAMILY GATHERED AT HIS GRAVE LAST MONTH FOR THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEATH. HIS 15 YEAR-OLD SON IS HAVING PERHAPS THE MOST DIFFICULT TIME, AND HAS TAKEN TO PUNCHING HOLES IN WALLS OF THE FAMILIES APARTMENT…

ALFONSO’S SON: I just wanted to say goodbye to him I wanted to say something I couldn’t.

JOHN LARSON [narration]: IN THE END, ONE FATHER, WHO MIGHT HAVE HAD A PATHWAY TO AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP, IS NOW DEAD. THE OTHER CROSSED ILLEGALLY INTO THE UNITED STATES A FIFTH TIME, REJOINED HIS CHILDREN AND NOW LABORS AS A CALIFORNIA FARMWORKER AS HE HAS FOR DECADES, YOU GET THE SENSE FOR THESE TWO AND THOUSANDS LIKE THEM, NO WALL WOULD HAVE BEEN HIGH ENOUGH, NO DESERT – TOO FORBIDDING.

GLADYS DOMINGUEZ: It doesn’t matter the dangers that they’re willing to face the dangers just to be with their family. Because nothing to him was more important than being with us.

JEFF GREENFIELD: That’s it for this edition of Need to Know. I’m Jeff Greenfield. Thanks for watching.

For years the age of those dying has been constant — they have been young  — but today, these statistics are changing. According to two recent studies, what may be compelling older immigrants to risk death in the desert is this: more and more often, they are mothers and fathers who have long had homes in the United States, with American children who depend on them.

Source: Humane Borders

Read the full transcript here.

This week:

	Searching for answers An extended interview with Gladys Dominguez, the 19-year-old daughter of Alfonso Martinez Sanchez. Her father died attempting to re-enter to the U.S. through Arizona’s state border desert.
	Voices of mixed-status families Cindy Huang of PBS NewsHour spoke with five families struggling with the realities of U.S. immigration law.
	Report on new Border Patrol tactics The Congressional Research Service has just released a report evaluating several tactics used by the U.S. Border Patrol including lateral deportation — a tactic used to discourage re-entry by deportees. KPBS reports.

Catch up on Need to Know’s award-winning Border Patrol series:

	Crossing the line at the border, part 1 The show’s first report on the subject aired in April and sparked a federal grand jury probe. In partnership with the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute, Need to Know investigates whether U.S. border agents have been using excessive force in an effort to curb illegal immigration.
	Crossing the line at the border, part 1 update One week after our initial broadcast, we took another look at the story of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas. Plus, an interview with Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva, who tells us that members of congress have inquired about his case before, but had heard nothing from the Justice Department.
	Crossing the line at the border, part 2 On Friday, July 20, Need to Know aired the second part of our investigation into alleged abuses by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Correspondent John Larson investigates stories of physical abuse, sexual assault and even torture. Read: Renewed call for inquiry into border abuses
	Web extra: Interview with Andrea Guerrero Need to Know’s report on the circumstances surrounding the death of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas, an undocumented worker living in San Diego, has led to a federal grand jury probe. PDF: Members of Congress demand investigation

Watch more full episodes of Need to Know.

After being deported from Vista, California, Alfonso tried to return to his family in the U.S. three times, but was repeatedly stopped by Border Patrol agents and deported back to Mexico.

On his fourth and final attempt to re-enter the country, he began to succumb to heat stroke in Arizona state’s border desert. A friend, Isaac, was able to call Alfonso’s wife, Juana, who alerted her daughter, Gladys, that her father was in trouble.

In this extended interview, Gladys recounts the long and frustrating search for information about her father’s condition and whereabouts.

“I made so many calls and no one would help,” she said.

In part three of our “Border Patrol” series on immigration policies, we meet the family of Alfonso Martinez Sanchez, a 39-year-old father of five American children (above, Alfonso with his wife, Juana, and children).

Alfonso was deported from Vista, California after a sheriff’s deputy asked him for his identification at a local convenience store. He subsequently died trying to reenter the United States through the desert.

Below, a series of audio recordings by Cindy Huang of PBS NewsHour, who spoke with five families struggling with the realities of U.S. immigration law.

Huang writes:

Families living in the shadows. Struggling with separation. Being forced to leave the United States.

These are the stories of mixed-status families, where one spouse is a U.S. citizen and the other lacks status. These families told the PBS NewsHour how immigration policy drastically altered their lives as lawmakers begin consideration of a comprehensive measure to overhaul the current system.

Erika Orrantia by PBSNewsHour

Erika Orrantia’s husband was issued a lifetime bar from the U.S. with no chance for a waiver because he made a false claim to citizenship when he was 23 years old.

Crystal Mendez by PBSNewsHour

Crystal Mendez’s husband is barred from the U.S. for 10 years for living in the country illegally for more than a year.

Melissa Watkins by PBSNewsHour

Melissa Watkins’ husband was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials. Both U.S. citizens, Watkins and her daughter moved to Mexico City to be with him as he completes his 10-year bar.

Cher Orlanda by PBSNewsHour

U.S. citizen Cher Orlanda lives in Portsmouth, Va., with her children. Her husband is currently barred for 10 years and lives in Mexico.

Lance Paxton by PBSNewsHour

U.S. citizen Lance Paxton lives in Shelby Township, Mich. His wife lives in Mexico with their children. She is serving a lifetime ban for making a false claim to citizenship.

Read more from PBS NewsHour.

PBS Need to Know sat down with survivors of the Simon’s Rock shooting, as well as family members of the victims, to learn how a trauma of this magnitude continues to reverberate even two decades later.

Plus, watch this week’s essay: As a 13-year-old boy, a single bullet in the back from an unsuspecting stranger left Jerry McGill a quadriplegic with no chance for recovery. This random act of violence may have dashed the 44-year-old’s childhood dreams of becoming an athlete or entertainer but it never stole his optimistic outlook on life.

Read the updated transcript.

More on the Simon’s Rock tragedy

	Gone Boy Read an excerpt from Gregory Gibson’s Gone Boy: A Father’s Search for the Truth in His Son’s Murder.
	Remembering the night Faculty who were working at the school during the 1992 shooting take us back to that night.
	Creating art from tragedy The 1992 school shooting at Simon’s Rock College inspires poetry and piano.

Watch more full episodes of Need to Know.