Lost in Detention

More than one million immigrants have been deported since President Obama took office. Under his administration, deportations and detentions have reached record levels. The get-tough policy has brought complaints of abuse and harsh treatment, including charges that families have been unfairly separated after being caught in the nationwide dragnet. The administration has promised to make the detention system more humane, and more selectively target the most serious criminals. But it faces Republican critics urging stricter measures — and a growing backlash among Latino voters, a key 2012 electoral force. In a co-production with the Investigative Reporting Workshop, correspondent Maria Hinojosa investigates Obama’s enforcement strategies and journeys into the secretive world of immigrant detention, with a penetrating look at who is being detained and what is happening to them.