"Torn Apart: Separated At the Border" (2019 release; 40 min.) is a documentary about the Trump administration's decision to separate asylum-seeking families (kids taken away from their parents--usually their mom). As the documentary opens, we are in 2018 and we are introduced to two families: one is from Honduras, fleeing the civil war-like conditions ("where people are left dead in the streets"), and upon arrival at the US border Maria and her 10 yr. old son are separated. Then we get to know a family from Guatemala, fleeing severe domestic abuse. Upon arrival at the US border, mom is separated from her 8 yr. old daughter (who happens to be a US citizen resulting from being born in the US).
Couple of comments: this is the latest from well-established documentarian Ellen Goosenberg Kent, providing a glimpse of what it has been like for asylum-seeking families with children upon arrival at the US border. In commenting on this, it is rather difficult to distinguish between the intrinsic artistic quality of the documentary versus the underlying policy decision of the Trump administration to separate children from their parents when applying for asylum. Let me just offer this: regardless of your feelings or political stance on the latter, this documentary puts a human face on desperate asylum seekers who are fleeing impossible conditions in their country of origin. I myself am of the belief that "applicable US law", whatever that is, should be applied. But how is it that asylum approval rates have dropped by 50 percent in just a few years? Has the law changed all of the sudden? The documentary shows how standards are applied seemingly randomly and differently, depending on which state the asylum application is reviewed (with Georgia's asylum approval rate a stunning and truth-defying low 2 percent).
This eye-opening documentary recently premiered on HBO and is now streaming on various platforms. The only reason that I am rating this "only" 8 stars is that the documentary, as good as it is, is simply too short at a mere 40 min, and cries out for further coverage. But other than that, this is must-see and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
