THE STORY – Delves into the Trump administration’s family separation crisis at the US-Mexico border.
THE CAST – N/A
THE TEAM – Errol Morris (Director) & Jacob Soboroff (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 93 Minutes
Over his decades-long career, documentarist Errol Morris has covered a number of harrowing stories and topics in his films. Some have managed to bring justice to those wrongly incarcerated (“The Thin Blue Line”), while others have illuminated the storied lives of their subjects (“The Pigeon Tunnel”). But with “Separated” (adapted from Jacob Soboroff’s book of the same name), Morris delivers one of his most timely works by examining the inner workings and failings of former President Donald Trump’s administration’s family separation policy at the U.S./Mexico border. With the presidential election just a few months away and illegal immigration always a talking point among candidates, the film is essential viewing for American voters, regardless of their party preference. Whether viewers know much about the topic or not, there’s no denying “Separated” won’t outrage them in some way.
Morris gathers several former department heads and immigration experts for talking head interviews to detail the various stages of the policy. Among the many shocking details in the documentary is that many of them didn’t know when it officially began. Top Trump administration officials, such as advisor Stephen Miller, championed separating families as a deterrent for other potential illegal immigrants in early 2017 but didn’t announce the policy right away. Those working at the various agencies directly impacted by it, such as the Office of Refugee Resettlement, also didn’t know exactly what was happening until the number of unaccompanied minors somehow kept growing. It’s quite distressing to hear that once families were separated, children would be labeled as unaccompanied minors, meaning they crossed the border on their own and taken into ORR care. Records weren’t being kept that indicated who their parents were, nor was there any plan for reunification, showing just how cruel and poorly thought out all of this was.
Morris includes a number of emails from officials indicting their concerns or support for the policy, as well as news clips, to keep a timeline of events in viewers’ heads. At times, it may be difficult to keep names and titles straight. More importantly, though, the emails he includes are chock full of unsettling information about how harming families psychologically was the ultimate point. Blurred photographs and audio recordings of children crying further highlight that intent.
There were some good players at the time, many of whom Morris includes in the documentary. Health and Human Services official Jonathan White details how he tried to prevent the policy from starting with all the administrative powers at his disposal but ultimately was out-maneuvered by others. One can tell how much family separations impacted him based on his impassioned pleas to higher-ups and how personally he took reunifications once given a chance. Many key instigators, such as Miller, refused an interview for the film, so we don’t hear directly why they pushed for this policy. But Morris does include a bit of a “gotcha” sequence involving Scott Lloyd, former director of the ORR. Many interviewees point fingers at Lloyd and call out shady closed-door meetings he had with Miller, indicating that he supported this policy far more than he may have led on. It’s quite satisfying to watch later as he trips over his words and can’t seem to “remember” why he said certain things or insisted on not keeping up records.
Intertwined with the treasure trove of information is a reenactment of a young mother and child attempting to cross the border and how the policy impacts them. It’s very cinematic, especially in capturing the vast landscape they must traverse to make it to the United States, and at times emotional. But these moments would have played stronger if Morris included commentary from an immigrant family’s journey to detail the emotions they faced. In general, immigrant voices are missing from the documentary. Many people talk about how these families must have felt and the harm being separated from each other caused, but we never get any personal accounts of exactly that. Additionally, the people Morris interviewed don’t provide first-hand accounts of interacting with thousands of immigrant families and what they heard and saw during 2017-2018. It ends up being a whole lot of talking about people rather than talking to them to honor their story.
It’d be nice if the family separation policy were a thing of the past, but the truth of the matter is that more than five years later, the government is still trying to reunify families, which makes “Separated” as timely as ever. The film ends on a somber and foreboding note that, if given the chance, this policy could happen again. For some, there were no lessons learned, and there’s no empathy shown for those they’re harming most. In one interview, Thomas Homan, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he was “sick and tired hearing about the family separation families” and that families “chose to separate themselves.” What’s clear with “Separated” is that Morris doesn’t want viewers to lose their empathy toward this issue and wants people to stay outraged, even if they’re not hearing about it in the press anymore. Given the chance for a second Trump presidency, there’s no better time than now to do just that.
