FRONTLINE, ProPublica Investigate How Protestors and Bystanders Were Caught Up in the Trump Administration’s Immigration Crackdown

Caught in the Crackdown 

Watch the documentary starting April 14, 2026, at 10/9c at pbs.org/frontline, propublica.org, in the PBS App,on PBS stations (check local listings) and on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel. It will also be available on PBS Documentaries on Prime Video. 

Over the past year, a reporting team from FRONTLINE and ProPublica has been documenting the Trump administration’s federal immigration sweeps in major cities across the country — and the violence, protests and arrests stemming from them.

How did the operations by masked and heavily armed federal agents, sometimes backed by the U.S. military, unfold? And how did protesters and bystanders who are U.S. citizens get caught up in the crackdown?

Those questions are at the center of a new documentary premiering Tues., April 14, on PBS and online. Directed by Gabrielle Schonder and produced with correspondent A.C. Thompson, Caught in the Crackdown is part of a multiplatform investigation that will also include a story from ProPublica publishing that same day.

The administration said its immigration crackdown was protecting U.S. citizens by targeting criminals and people who had entered the country illegally. Through on-the-ground reporting from Los Angeles to Chicago to Minneapolis and interviews with officials, experts, insiders and eyewitnesses, Caught in the Crackdown traces how what began as immigration enforcement operations also became something different — with the government arresting hundreds of U.S. citizens who were protesting or observing the raids, and routinely portraying those citizens as domestic terrorists or extremists.

But despite the rhetoric, the reality behind those arrests has often been quite different, ProPublica and FRONTLINE found: “When we analyzed more than 300 of these arrests, we found that while there have been successful prosecutions, over and over, cases have been falling apart, contradicted by video evidence and witness testimony,” says Thompson.

Video footage and witness testimony also contradicted official accounts of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of two protesters in Minneapolis, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, at the hands of federal agents. And Caught in the Crackdown reports on how and when federal forces deployed weaponry on protesters and activists — as well as journalists, including a team from FRONTLINE and ProPublica that was tear-gassed during filming.

The documentary traces the role of one of the key players in the operations, Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino, who defended the aggressive tactics and arrests and called them “exemplary.” After Pretti’s killing, Bovino was moved out of his role and has since retired, with the Trump administration saying it “recognized that certain improvements could and should be made” to its immigration enforcement operations.

For the full story, watch Caught in the Crackdown and explore related reporting from FRONTLINE and ProPublica. 

Caught in the Crackdown will be available to watch starting April 14, 2026, at 10/9c at pbs.org/frontline, propublica.org, on FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel and on PBS stations (check local listings). Caught in the Crackdown will also be available on PBS Documentaries on Prime Video. Subscribe to FRONTLINE’s newsletter to get updates on events, podcasts and additional reporting related to Caught in the Crackdown. 

Credits Caught in the Crackdown is a FRONTLINE Production with Schonder Productions in association with ProPublica. The correspondent, producer and writer is A.C. Thompson. The producer, writer and director is Gabrielle Schonder. The senior editor is Frank Koughan. The managing editor of FRONTLINE is Andrew Metz. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath. 

About FRONTLINE FRONTLINE, U.S. television’s longest running investigative documentary series, explores the issues of our times through powerful storytelling. FRONTLINE has won an Academy Award® as well as every major journalism and broadcasting award, including 110 Emmy Awards and 34 Peabody Awards. Visit pbs.org/frontline and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to learn more. FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation, and The Fialkow Family Foundation, as part of the Plum Bush Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and Corey David Sauer, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen, and Laura DeBonis and Scott Nathan. 

About ProPublica ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. With a team of more than 150 dedicated journalists, ProPublica covers a range of topics, focusing on stories with the potential to spur real-world impact. Its reporting has contributed to the passage of new laws; reversals of harmful policies and practices; and accountability for leaders at local, state and national levels. Since it began publishing in 2008, ProPublica has received eight Pulitzer Prizes, five Peabody Awards, eight Emmy Awards and 18 George Polk Awards.

Press Contacts: FRONTLINE, Anne Husted Blatt, Director of Marketing & Communications | frontlinemedia@wgbh.org ProPublica, Olivia Walton, Communications Manager | olivia.walton@propublica.org