Torn Apart: Separated at the Border (2019)

The US-Mexico border isn’t a nice place. It’s worse for those trying to cross into the “land of opportunity”. Every year, thousands of families make the trip to get asylum and in 2018, more than 3 000 families were pulled apart by US border officials. This is their story.

It’s no secret that the United States government is super strict on who comes in and out of their country – and unfortunately the people who become victims first and foremost are the kids, innocents who’re dragged along by their parents and haven’t done anything wrong at all. They do what their parents tell them and they’re punished, thrown in detention camps and separated from their parents and their protectors for weeks and sometimes months.

You’re going to be horrified by this doccie. It’s deeply troubling. It’s emotionally soul crushing. It will break your hearts. But that’s what it sets out to do, because asylum seeking to begin with isn’t a nice thing to go through. Seeing 10-year-olds like Alex be pulled away from his mom Vilma from Guatemala by huge, strong, cruel US lawmen will make you sob.