WEBVTT 00:02.033 --> 00:04.266 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% JUDY WOODRUFF: Although crossings at the U.S. southern border are at historic lows, the 00:04.266 --> 00:09.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% number of families and unaccompanied minors entering the U.S. has been increasing. 00:09.000 --> 00:14.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Amna Nawaz was granted access to Border Patrol's Yuma Sector operations in Arizona. 00:15.966 --> 00:20.700 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% This is the first of two reports, starting with a view from the U.S. side of the border. 00:20.700 --> 00:24.733 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And a warning: Viewers may find some images disturbing. 00:24.733 --> 00:29.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Under the hot Arizona sun, with few belongings and well-worn shoes, these 00:32.266 --> 00:37.000 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% migrants have just crossed onto American soil after the nearly-4,000-mile journey from Guatemala. 00:39.000 --> 00:41.433 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Some in the group allow us to shoot video. 00:41.433 --> 00:45.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Florencio says he and his 4-year-old son, Walter, traveled for 30 days. 00:45.833 --> 00:49.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% He's desperate for work and says there was none back home. 00:49.033 --> 00:51.933 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% He and the others surrendered to U.S. Border Patrol agents. 00:51.933 --> 00:54.866 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% The agents didn't allow us to record interviews with the group. 00:54.866 --> 00:59.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But they invited us to spend a day seeing what they do here in the Yuma Sector in Southwest 01:00.633 --> 01:02.566 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Arizona. 01:02.566 --> 01:05.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The groups they're encountering in recent years have changed dramatically. 01:05.166 --> 01:10.166 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% A decade ago, 90 percent of immigrants caught crossing illegally were single adult men from 01:11.400 --> 01:13.433 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% Mexico. 01:13.433 --> 01:17.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Today, nearly 90 percent are families and unaccompanied children from Central America. 01:19.900 --> 01:23.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% That change, they say, is stretching their resources like never before. 01:23.200 --> 01:28.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% At their headquarters, Border Patrol shows us where families are first detained. 01:28.133 --> 01:31.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Inside the headquarters is what they call a processing center, where families are held 01:31.833 --> 01:33.933 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% for about three days. 01:33.933 --> 01:36.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And we're not allowed to shoot any picture, but we can tell you what we saw. 01:36.433 --> 01:38.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% It's basically a giant cement room. 01:38.366 --> 01:41.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And around the perimeter of the room are a number of holding cells that are broken up 01:41.766 --> 01:43.266 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% by population. 01:43.266 --> 01:45.766 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So you have mothers and daughters, fathers and sons. 01:45.766 --> 01:50.533 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% But the single most crowded room was for unaccompanied males, just dozens and dozens of teenagers 01:51.766 --> 01:54.400 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% lying like sardines in this one cement room. 01:54.400 --> 01:57.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% What really strikes you about the room, though, is how many children there are, toddlers running 01:57.666 --> 01:59.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% around, infants in their mother's arms. 01:59.933 --> 02:03.966 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The one thing border officials will tell you is everyone can agree this is no place for 02:03.966 --> 02:06.533 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% families and children. 02:06.533 --> 02:11.033 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% We could record video in what they call their Costco, a room once filled with office supplies, 02:12.966 --> 02:16.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% now packed with diapers, formula, and family essentials, unpacked here by some of the 90 02:17.733 --> 02:19.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% National Guard troops sent to backfill staffing. 02:19.800 --> 02:21.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ANTHONY PORVAZNIK, Yuma Sector Border Patrol: This is what we call an enforcement zone, 02:21.166 --> 02:23.233 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% so this is triple-layer fencing here. 02:23.233 --> 02:27.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Yuma Sector Chief Anthony Porvaznik says he's asked for more agents. 02:27.400 --> 02:31.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% He already has funding from last year to update 25 miles of border fencing. 02:31.633 --> 02:33.133 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ANTHONY PORVAZNIK: This will all be replaced. 02:33.133 --> 02:34.633 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: Into what? 02:34.633 --> 02:36.666 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% ANTHONY PORVAZNIK: It will be 30 feet bollard-style fence. 02:36.666 --> 02:41.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: His resources, he says, haven't changed since 2012, but the job has. 02:43.433 --> 02:47.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Porvaznik estimates 35 percent to 40 percent of his current manpower goes to processing 02:48.866 --> 02:51.000 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and caring for the families and children in custody. 02:51.000 --> 02:55.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% ANTHONY PORVAZNIK: We just had a lady last week who delivered twins two months premature. 02:55.266 --> 02:59.366 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And they see -- they see sick kids in our custody. 02:59.366 --> 03:04.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And last year alone, we took 550 kids to the hospital here, over 1,700 total here just 03:05.833 --> 03:08.366 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% in the Yuma area. 03:08.366 --> 03:12.333 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% That's a huge strain on our resources, because they're doing things that are not enforcement-related. 03:12.333 --> 03:17.133 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% AMNA NAWAZ: But agents concede no barrier is 100 percent effective. 03:17.133 --> 03:21.866 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% They point us towards the surveillance videos showing families climbing over sections of 03:21.866 --> 03:23.500 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% wall. 03:23.500 --> 03:25.833 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% The 14-year-old girl in this clip broke her vertebrae from the fall. 03:25.833 --> 03:30.066 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% Injuries, they say, are common and further stretch their resources. 03:30.066 --> 03:31.566 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% How far back does this date? 03:31.566 --> 03:33.566 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% ANTHONY PORVAZNIK: This dates back to about 1990. 03:33.566 --> 03:38.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Chief Porvaznik believes updating older wall will dissuade people from trying 03:39.033 --> 03:41.066 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% to cross illegally. 03:41.066 --> 03:44.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% When you see people who are willing to dig under this and climb over barbed wire and 03:44.233 --> 03:49.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% build makeshift ladders to climb over additional fencing, do you think that that's enough to 03:50.433 --> 03:52.000 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% deter people to try to breach it in some way? 03:52.000 --> 03:54.133 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% ANTHONY PORVAZNIK: The majority of the population, yes. 03:54.133 --> 03:55.400 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% AMNA NAWAZ: Yes? 03:55.400 --> 03:57.100 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% ANTHONY PORVAZNIK: It will deter the majority. 03:57.100 --> 03:59.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% And what we're trying to do is impede and deny entry into this area. 03:59.966 --> 04:04.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And so, 87 percent of the people that we apprehend right now are family units and unaccompanied 04:04.800 --> 04:06.066 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% children. 04:06.066 --> 04:07.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% They won't go over a 30-foot bollard. 04:07.966 --> 04:09.966 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Is it going to push it somewhere else? 04:09.966 --> 04:12.033 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Likely, yes. 04:12.033 --> 04:16.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Later in the day, Border Patrol encountered a second group of Guatemalans 04:17.366 --> 04:19.000 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% migrants. 04:19.000 --> 04:21.633 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% This mother of two young children asked we don't show their faces. 04:21.633 --> 04:23.733 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% She's fleeing her abusive husband. 04:23.733 --> 04:28.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% She and the rest of this group of 12 waited across the Colorado River to get into the 04:28.300 --> 04:30.366 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% U.S. 04:30.366 --> 04:31.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% CARL LANDRUM, Yuma Sector Border Patrol: These are things that we have to interact with here 04:31.033 --> 04:33.133 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% on the ground. 04:33.133 --> 04:35.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Deputy Chief Carl Landrum walked us through the brush to show us where they 04:35.733 --> 04:37.666 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% crossed. 04:37.666 --> 04:39.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% The fact that people are willing to make a crossing like this with little kids tells 04:39.566 --> 04:42.400 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% you what people are willing to do to come to the States. 04:42.400 --> 04:47.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% CARL LANDRUM: It definitely -- it definitely shows that people want to experience the American 04:48.533 --> 04:50.466 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% dream. 04:50.466 --> 04:53.333 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And we would like for everybody that could be a part of that legally to be a part of 04:53.333 --> 04:55.400 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% it. 04:55.400 --> 04:58.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: But immigration attorney Laura Belous of the Arizona-based Florence Project 04:58.433 --> 05:02.433 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% says resources should go to immigration courts, not physical barriers. 05:02.433 --> 05:05.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% LAURA BELOUS, Attorney, Florence Project: If you look at the history the border over 05:05.466 --> 05:10.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the last 20 years, increased walls within cities then pushed people into deserts. 05:10.066 --> 05:14.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% So, if there's walls and deserts, it is going to push people into canyons and rivers, where 05:14.600 --> 05:17.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% people are likely to have even more dangerous crossing. 05:17.166 --> 05:19.700 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Smuggling will be even more expensive. 05:19.700 --> 05:22.800 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% That then makes everyone along the border less safe. 05:22.800 --> 05:27.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Chief Porvaznik says, whatever the solution, the current situation is unsustainable. 05:29.400 --> 05:32.100 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% ANTHONY PORVAZNIK: Look, we can't arrest our way out of the problem. 05:32.100 --> 05:33.800 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% That's not going to solve the problem. 05:33.800 --> 05:37.600 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% So we have to figure out -- and this is not a Border Patrol solve. 05:37.600 --> 05:41.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% This is -- this comes from legislation, updated laws. 05:41.066 --> 05:46.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: As the policy debate in Washington drags on, there's little relief in sight for 05:47.700 --> 05:51.966 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% both those patrolling this border and those seeking to cross it. 05:53.933 --> 05:56.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Officials say the vast majority of those crossing are families seeking stability or safety, 05:56.500 --> 06:01.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% though they also say background checks sometimes reveal someone with a criminal history. 06:01.366 --> 06:06.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Judy, it's worth noting that criminal history often means an immigration violation, not 06:06.066 --> 06:08.100 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% necessarily a violent crime. 06:08.100 --> 06:11.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But Border Patrol officials' bigger concern is who they're missing while they're busy 06:11.466 --> 06:12.933 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% caring for these families and children. 06:12.933 --> 06:15.166 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So they say they want everyone to cross legally. 06:15.166 --> 06:17.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% And that will be the focus of our piece tomorrow evening. 06:17.200 --> 06:19.033 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And we're very much looking forward to that. 06:19.033 --> 06:20.033 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% Thank you. 06:20.033 --> 06:20.166 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Thanks, Judy.