They Risked Everything To Reach America What Happened Next Walk The Line ICE Nation Part 1 2

Why are you guys here? we're making documentary. We came here two years before. You gotta move. Out. OK. Or we’ll take the cameras. Take all this stuff out right now. My name is Wei Du. Two years ago, my crew and set out on an unlikely journey across Latin America, tracking Chinese migrants trying to reach the United States illegally. The smuggler might be thinking am one of his merchandise. On the journey, things often didn’t go as planned. We all got robbed! There were times when wasn’t sure if the migrants or we ourselves would make it through. You’ve got vehicle behind you. No matter what your goal is, it’s not worth losing your life. But in the end, they all made it to America. And their journey resonated far beyond the border. I'm Kristi Noem, the United States secretary of Homeland Security. But as new administration took over, everything began to change. President Trump has clear message for those that are in our country illegally: Leave now. If you don't, we will find you and we will deport you. We began to wonder: Where are the families now? And what has become of the American dream they risked everything for. ICE out! Over three weeks in January 2026, we set out to find them. Whose streets? Our streets! At time when immigration raids sweep across American cities, and growing resistance takes shape on the streets. Don’t shoot! This is story of the Chinese migrants chasing the ever-elusive American dream. It is also story of country at war with itself over who the dream belongs to. I'm returning to Jacumba on the US-Mexico border to see Sam Schultz again. 57, 58, 59, 60… 60 people, f****** hell. Two years ago, he led team of volunteers feeding migrants as they waited for days to be taken into custody by Border Patrol. China, line. Make line! Sam. Hello. So nice to see you. How are you? Very honoured to see you, too. Your documentary.... You watched it? Multiple times. By far the best of anything that have seen so far about the migrant experience. Thank you so much. Is that John? Hey. Good to see you again. Yeah. It has been while. So when was it, actually, that you were last here? January? Slightly two… more than two years ago. We came right around Thanksgiving. Well, the times have changed significantly. Yeah? can tell you that. For better or for worse? Well, mean, in terms of border crossings, they're at zero, basically. And whether that's good or bad, don't know. When did the migrants stop coming? mean, just when… Trump became the president? No, no. This is six months before he was inaugurated. Anthony Blinken went to Mexico City and said, “You are going to put the National Guard camps in at the border.” And that shut off these crossing points almost immediately, instantaneously. I'll show you what from where we're going. That's interesting, right? The previous administration could do something… always had the ability to do something. So under the Trump presidency, what really changed? The big, real change legally is something that Theodore Roosevelt made, back 125 years ago. This 60 ft setback from the wall that said, this is federalized. And now that strip has been designated military zone. But what difference does that make? That means that they can use military personnel to patrol the border so that the Border Patrol agents can go off to Minnesota or wherever. You probably remember this, once we get up over the bridge. And this is where the big change is happening from this side. What was it called? The Willow Camp, was it? Yeah, that was Willow Camp. Right. There is an open border right here. That's where immigrants are coming into this country. They do whatever they want to do. They burn on your property. They don't clean up after themselves. The Willow Camp is still Jerry and Maria Shuster's private land? It is. Maria still lives here, and Jerry passed on. Jerry passed on? When was that? In September. Where does the military base start? 60 ft from that wall. gotta turn around right down there. don't want to go in the military base. In your documentary, definitely where they lined them up was right here. Yeah, it's so strange. just have hard time recognising it. And they would walk them out to the road, and then they line them up there waiting for the bus. And they had them in the increments of how big the bus was going to be. That's right. remember everybody was running towards here. There were hundreds of them. Every time, hundreds of people would come and they would… And then they would go by wristbands. Well, the wristband, they stopped at certain point. This is where you used to prepare the meals. remember the last time was here, you were very worried because you were continuously feeding people by that point, six to eight weeks. Yeah. large number of people at that point… - Huge number of people, hundreds… - And it would just seem to be constantly growing every day. When it ended, how did you feel? was… well, feel relieved. I'm 70 years old. It can only go so far, you know. The politics of all of that and how that all worked at that time is still great confusion for me. don't understand who benefited one way or the other. They could have kept them out originally. They let them in, and now they're going to take them back out at huge expense. If you don't mind me asking, do you vote Democrat or Republican? don't vote either. don't really see that there's any qualitative difference, to tell you the truth. really don't. We see the checks and balances that are normally on our executive branch, seem to be eroding very quickly. mean, don't know. But look what happened in Minneapolis. It’s fine, dude. I'm not mad at you. Shame! Shame! my f****** God! Justice for who? Renee Good! Welcome to Minneapolis. arrive in Minneapolis, two days after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, an American citizen who was observing immigration raids. Say her name! Renee Good! F*** ICE. They shot that woman for no reason. come just as the city’s first mass protest begins, in response to what the federal government calls Operation Metro Surge, sweeping campaign of immigration raids across Minneapolis and its twin city Saint Paul. That lady over there is flying the One Piece flag, the global symbol of defiance by Gen Zs. I'm not sure I've ever seen that in the US before. What's the message for you to fly this? Basically, liberate the people. You know, stop the oppression that's happening right now. People coming to find undocumented people, and then intimidate them basically, intimidating everyone. And that's got to stop. It's -6°C out. And because of the wind chill, the app says it actually feels like -15°C. And had thought, why would people turn up to rally when it's this cold? But there could easily be couple thousand people now. And they just keep on coming. Like all of you, am heartbroken by what we saw this week. community member who was shot and killed for protecting her neighbours. And since the moment that learned her name, it hasn't left me. Because she is good, and that she was good, and that her heart is good, and that her intentions were good. And that we fight for our communities because we still believe that goodness and justice will still prevail. Because all they have is lies. All they do is to fuel lies. Because they know they're losing this fight. On the ground, locally, nationally, they are losing this fight. Say it once, say it twice: We will not put up with ICE! Say it loud, say it clear: Immigrants are welcome here! That's probably pretty good protein. You want one? I'll take one. All right. So meat sticks and energy drinks, guys. The best. Got lot more people to chase. Stand back. Stand back. You are gonna f****** get it! Zhao Jiayue, wake up! Wake up! The sun’s already high in the sky. You’ll be late. didn’t think kids in the US had to get up early for school. Did you make breakfast back in Henan? No. But here cook. For one, it’s hard to find things we like for breakfast. And eating out in the US is pretty expensive. Two years ago, we met the Zhao family at the airport of Pasto, Colombia. They became part of the group we followed through Mexico. My mum is angry at my dad. She said she would go back to Henan province. She’s asking people how she can get ticket. They are fighting? Over what? don’t know, but it’s out of control. Don’t you remember me? We’ve met before. Do you remember that uncle? No? She doesn't remember any of us. forgot you. You forgot. My daughter, after just eight or nine months, had no trouble talking with other students. My son took bit longer, about year. Your son seems more outgoing now than when you were on the road. He was naturally shy. And after everything we went through, he got bit shaken up. How many subscribers do you have? Your daughter seems the same. You can tell that’s just who she is. Need the big yellow book, right? What are you going to learn today? don’t know. What did you learn yesterday? forgot. You forgot? Do you like going to school? No. No? Is there anything, any subjects that you like in school? Recess. Recess! Son, let’s go. Does it take this long every morning? Yes. Actually, we’re few minutes early today. Come on, let’s go, son. Where’s your backpack? you’ve got it. The Zhao family are the first among the migrants we met on the road to have their asylum case heard in court. Our school is nearby. Their hearing is less than week away. After dropping the kids off, Zhao Jie heads to his lawyer for some final preparations. Do you always dress this smart? No, it’s just (for today). Are you good driver? am OK. do food delivery after all. Since bought the car, I’ve put over 50,000 miles on it. How’s the pay doing delivery? Not great anymore. There are too many people doing delivery now. It’s just enough to get by. About US$3,000 month. You’ve been here two years now. Is America what you imagined it would be? How should put it? Actually, before came here, had pretty good job back in China. Among ordinary working people, was doing fine, maybe little better than average. So, coming here wasn’t about the money. Then what have you gained in America? For me, it means living without anxiety and without fear. He was reluctant to share his story two years back, but Zhao now says they left China after two run-ins with the authorities. First, when the government seized their home to make way for new development. And more recently, after he clashed with officials enforcing China’s zero-COVID policy during the pandemic. Right now the US is cracking down on immigrants, including asylum seekers like you. Some are being detained. Some are deported. Does that scare you? Yes. Sometimes I’m really scared. Because of what went through in China, I’m terrified of having to go back. For while, was emotionally... for whatever reason... all of sudden... I’d lose control. It was like... just wanted to cry. just feel... that have let my children down. Zhao’s lawyer is based in the famous Fatman Ding Plaza. Two years ago, this was where many newly arrived Chinese migrants first came to. bit dirty. This place looks poor. It feels like never left China. But even as they settle down and move on, the plaza remains centre of gravity in their lives. It feels pretty strange being back at Fatman Ding Plaza. On surface, it still looks pretty much the same. The same shops, same restaurants. But if you look closely, something obviously is also different. remember there used to be these guys just hanging around, not doing much because they had just come across the border, and not being able to find job. Now you don't see them anymore. Did they move to other states? Did they go back to China? Or they are simply trying to stay hidden? Back then, young men would gather outside this employment agency, waiting for work. I’ve been here for almost year. didn’t make much in China, so came here to make money. And? I’ve made no money. Reality hit me in the face. Do you regret it? Regret won’t help. If go back, I’ll look so stupid. Today, it’s eerily quiet. Hi! Are you the owner here? Yes. When came here two years ago to film documentary, lots of young men who had just crossed the border came here looking for jobs. Now there’s no one? Not anymore. Mainly because of Trump’s policies. For migrants who came illegally, he imposed very strict restrictions. There are basically no new arrivals now. But can the US manage without these new workers? That’s major problem. The US has serious labour shortage. In construction, restaurants, and warehouses. lot of people wanted to become truck drivers. But that path is blocked now. If you don’t have permanent residency, you can’t drive truck. You need at least green card. work permit isn’t enough. And you must speak English. Just in California, more than 19,000… More than 19,000 truck drivers were pushed out? Yes. If someone really wants to work, there are still opportunities. Just don’t expect too much. Sounds like you really need workers. Yes, absolutely. wonder what happened to those young men who came chasing their American dream. And luckily, am still in touch with one of them. Hey, brother, remember me? interviewed you two years ago. remember. Where are you now? At home. When did you go back? Almost year ago. Were you deported, or did you leave on your own? came back on my own. In the end, couldn’t find work. couldn’t make any money. see. Can you find work back in China? There aren’t many jobs at home either. What to do? Just getting by. Did the government give you any trouble when you returned? No. that’s good. Take care. wish you good luck in the new year, and that you find good job. OK. Bye. Gotta go. Hi, brothers. sell second-hand cars. Here you can drive with your Chinese license. Really? For the first six months, yes. Add me on WeChat. If you don’t have bank account, and you just want car for few thousand dollars, our company can offer you loan. Look, this is the car was telling you about, 2019 Tesla with only 60,000 miles on it. It can be upgraded to Full Self-Driving. You just need to take it to Tesla service centre and have it upgraded. At this price, it’s really good deal. When people first arrived, most of them thought, “If I’m spending this kind of money, might as well buy BMW.” But after being here for while, most people want to switch to something more fuel-efficient, something more reliable. Look at this newly arrived Prius The price is right within your budget. And if you’re doing delivery, it has more trunk space than regular Prius, because the back is higher. The main problem is that we are not getting many newcomers. The flow just dried up, ever since October 2024. used to sell dozen cars month. Now can only manage seven or eight. California passed new law allowing Full Self-Driving. No need to put your hands on the wheel. Just keep your eyes on the road. How long have you been in the US? How many years? Let me think. arrived in September 2023. It’s January 2026 now, so almost two and half years. How has it been? feel… how do put it? It’s not as good as imagined, but it’s not bad either. I’m pretty used to it by now. Are you planning to stay in the US long term? Not really. I’ll just see how things play out. If we are talking about everyday life, China definitely suits me better. That Dodge has one of our people in it. Do not block my camera! You’re OK, man? F*** ICE! Are you good? I’ll be all right. What the f**k is going on? What is going on? Is this going to Lake? It's South Side. It is South Side? Somebody just said ICE is doing door to door. That looks like them. There’s ICE, that’s an ICE vehicle. You guys need to stop following. This is your first and last warning. It's not illegal. know, but it is illegal to impede. You’re going to get arrested. We’re not impeding. Yes, you are, sir. You’ve been warned. First and last warning. warning for what? violation of 18 USC 111. 18 USC 111 says you can publicly observe. No. Yes, it does. First and last warning. Next time pull over, you are going to get arrested. Get out of here. Get on foot. Ben and Sam Luhmann are teenage brothers from Chicago. ICE! They started filming ICE arrests in their own neighbourhood last year. You F****** coward! That’s kid! That’s child. day after Renee Good was shot and killed, the brothers drove six hours to Minneapolis. What are you guys doing? What are you hoping to achieve? So our goal here is just documenting everything. Right now, there's no checks and balances in the system. And lot of agents don't even wear body cams. So the biggest thing is just getting the documentation, so that the courts can have the video that they should be getting all along. And also so the American people can see what's actually happening. Look what they dropped. Are you serious? Remind me again how old you guys are. I'm 16. And I'm 17. You’re 16 and 17. Are you guys not afraid? They're gonna do what they're gonna do. And we can't just ignore it and let it happen. Run run run! My heart always races when we're interacting with ICE. Back up! They are kind of crazy guys with guns. But mean, we have to fight against it. Three or four of our patrollers got taken. His window just got broken, and both of the people in that vehicle are taken. What’s your name? Thursday! That’s Thursday! think definitely our race plays into it. They just hate people that are not white. lot of the people impacted by this issue can't take break because they're living it every single day. The people that aren't hurt by the issue should be the people out fighting, because oftentimes they have more privilege in the situation. Sir, stay over there, please. Is it not public anymore? I'm telling you, you are not going to like the outcome. You are not above the law. We are enforcing the law. You are breaking the law. Don't you have homework to do at home or something? So we're home schooled. We've just kind of brought school with us. So brought my textbooks. brought my laptop, so it's very mobile, and we're able to continue doing it. What's your name? There are no plates on this ICE vehicle. Zero plates. Do you have that on video? OK, let's go. They wave, they give you peace signs. They tell us, “Thank you for being here.” We don't want you here. Get out of Minnesota! Thank you for your support. They're like internet trolls in real life. Sam, behind you! Stay next to me. Do not run forward. Don't breathe! Ouch, is there something on my hand? Did they shoot at us? Yes. Shame! Shame! Shame! Take deep breath. Take deep breath. my gosh, think I'm good. But jeez, that stuff stinks. Why don't you just go? Gas! Gas! Gas! Get back! Sam! Run run run! Don't breathe the green stuff. It's so dangerous. Arrest as many people that touch you as you want to. Those are the general orders all the way to the top. Everybody f****** gets it if they touch you, you hear what I'm saying? You're on camera. But other than that, it’s what we do. Whose city is it, Chief? It’s f****** ours. It’s our f****** city. did not join the Luhmann Brothers on their patrol. Federal authorities have repeatedly warned that ICE observers could be arrested and charged. And our lawyers say if we got caught up in scuffle, as foreigners, we could face immigration consequences, including deportation. Driving around Minneapolis by ourselves, start to notice more ICE observers. It’s hard to know how big this rapid response network is here in Minnesota. But aside from the people patrolling the city in their cars, every few blocks, you also see volunteers standing around street corner with whistles ready to blow if ICE turns up on their block. And Minnesota is the third coldest state in the US. Temperature here is expected to drop to -20°C later this week. For fear of retaliation, most ICE observers prefer not to appear on camera. But outside public school, meet Elizabeth. She asks that we don’t reveal the location of the school. So I'm parent at sanctuary school in South Minneapolis. What does that mean, actually, sanctuary school? So it's school that we have identified that is racially diverse and that has higher population of immigrant families, so more likely to be targeted by ICE. Until we can get ICE out of Minneapolis, we're here for our students, greeting them, making sure they're getting into the building safe. And then it's also making sure that their parents are safe bringing them here. And if they don't feel safe, we've organized other parents to drive or other community members to drive students here. How big is the network? Our hyper local one for just the school that work with, it has about 200 members. But each block, each neighbourhood, has its own members and its spiders out. This is Monday. People need to go to work. How are you guys making this happen? We have to. I'm here every morning dropping my child off. So just stay little longer and go in little later. Do you have confidence this is battle that can be won? Yes, because love wins. F*** ICE. That's all we have to say. F*** ICE. This is where they bring all the people that they take. They process them, and then bring them to the jails around the counties. thought that they would stop after they killed somebody, but they do not give f***. They took my dad. They took your dad? Yeah, my dad has been here for years. Years, 20 plus years. What did he do for living? My dad was contractor. He was building housing, remodeling houses. He was just doing things all the time, working for these Americans. Does he have criminal record? No. They were looking for someone else. And then they were stopping him, and they just took him. If you throw snowballs, you will be identified and arrested. covered the anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019, so thought understood how things escalate, often in stages, when law enforcement tries to disperse crowd. But here in Minneapolis, that experience offers little guidance and things go from zero to 10 with no warning. Out of the road! Out of the road! We've only been here for about five minutes, and the situation has just escalated very quickly. The agents came out and shot what I'm assuming to be few pepper pellets, and they all went back in. There doesn't seem to be any clear trigger for the escalation or de-escalation. But the interesting thing is the protesters are not afraid. Now there seems to be more of them than when we just arrived 10 minutes ago. Shame! Shame! The ICE surge in Minneapolis came after right-wing blogger’s allegation of welfare fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community gained national attention. And in the initial raids, many of those detained appeared to be of Somali descent. You didn’t check my ID, you didn’t check his ID. F****** racist as*****. F*** you guys. You fake f****** cops. Minnesota used to be very white. The population dominated by descendants of German and Scandinavian immigrants that came in the early days of the United States. But in recent decades, it actually became diverse. The state now has about 100,000 ethnic Somalis. Most of them came here legally through State Department refugee resettlement programme. Now, this part of Lake Street is really dominated by Somali businesses. But right now, because of the frequent ICE raids, people are afraid. And most of these businesses no longer open. But the amount of Asian faces saw at the anti-ICE protest came as surprise. So I’ve arranged to meet Dieu Do, an organiser of the protest to understand why. This neighbourhood is the Frogtown neighbourhood of St Paul. And there's lot of immigrant-owned businesses along this corridor, especially Asian owned businesses. Asian? There's an incredibly large Asian community in Minnesota. We have the largest Hmong population… Hmong people? They came from… they came from Laos. Yes. After the Vietnam War, having fought for Americans. Right? That's the group we're talking about? Yes, yes. And Laos and Vietnam and the mountainous region. And also huge Vietnamese community and other Asian communities. If was born in warm country, probably wouldn't pick place that gets three feet of snow in the winter. Why did you guys all come up here? As daughter of immigrants who immigrated here from Vietnam, asked my parents that question, too. And we come from tropical regions, and the weather is very jarring here in comparison to what we're used to. But they love the people here. They love the community here. And it was place that folks found work very easy. And we found community very quickly… ICE is stupid. F*** ICE. Exactly. Amen, sister. love you. Love you too! Thank you so much. Thank you, muah! That’s Minnesota. Now the ICE raids, have they been coming here? Have the Asian communities been affected? They have been all over the place in our community. And people are incredibly fearful of their safety. Our business is not having enough workers show up because they're being detained or, you know, our business is just losing lot of their clientele and having to close or shorten their hours because everything is going on. I'm just trying to understand. If we take the biggest group, for example, the Hmong people, they came through refugee resettlement programme, right? So at least the vast majority of them would be legal. They might actually be citizens. Why would they still be fearful? We're seeing ICE agents detain people off of just what we look like, off of the language we speak, our accents. And folks are being detained for days, weeks, months on end, without any communication with their family, without being able to inform what's going on. And this is regardless of their immigration status? Regardless of their immigration status. So you don’t have an ID? Back off! Really? Really? You are monsters! myself have received advice to carry my passport with me, because they may try to target me based on what look like. We've received reports of federal law enforcement officers going door to door asking people where the Asian people live, right in our very own city. The tragic effects of this occupation are rippling far and wide throughout our communities. ICE out! F*** ICE! What do we do? Stand up, fight back! What do we do? Stand up, fight back! When did you learn to do this? Back in China. In China, manicure like this for both hands costs about 50 yuan (US$7). In the US, it’s around US$60. Plus tips. So that’s more than ten times. Yes. But the work pressure here is higher than in China. Two years ago, met Hu Jie’s family at bus terminal in Mexico. They had come from my hometown of Chongqing. What are you doing? Studying the checkpoints on the map. On the road, her son was so young. She and her husband took turns carrying him in their arms. Blow kiss goodbye. How old is your son now? He’s four. remember he was so little on the journey. He turned two on the road. Back then he could barely talk. When we pick him up later, you’ll see how much he’s changed. Did you borrow money for the trip? Yes, we borrowed some and used our own savings. Have you paid it back? Yes. The first year we worked really hard just to repay what we owed. Life only started to get better in the second year. In China, working hard didn’t seem to get me anywhere. Here, if you work hard, you actually get rewarded. think the light purple might look good. I’ll try them on you one by one. VIP treatment. That night when we were by the border, was in despair. Luckily, we managed to get through to you, and you helped us. Otherwise, don’t know if we would have made it through the night. You can’t call 911? You don’t have US SIM? Give me your coordinates. I’ll call the police. Hi. This is sort of strange story. I’m journalist making documentary about some of the migrants crossing the border wall. One couple had just got in touch. think they don't know where they are. They have two-year-old child with them. They sent me GPS coordinates and they don't know what to do. We had been walking for more than 10 hours without any water. My God, that was really dangerous. didn’t realise how serious it was at the time. Yes. We are very grateful for what you did. Does your son remember what happened back then? Probably not. And don’t want him to remember. only want him to remember the happy things. Can we go see the train tracks? The train is coming! Wow, he talks lot. Do you recognise this uncle? No? How old are you? Jayden! This won’t fire! There’s no bullet! This bullet doesn’t work. Can we play hide-and-seek? What was that? Hide-and-seek. go first. OK. Go ahead. Does he know he’s in the US? Does he understand that? No. He doesn’t know where he was before either. Hello, welcome home. Your hair’s longer. You look different. He looks more handsome with longer hair. That’s the hair he had in China. Do you want more dumplings? More vegetables. This is so good! saved some for you. What do you do for work? work in warehouse, driving forklift and labelling packages. He usually doesn’t get off work until 8 or 9pm. So you work 12 to 14 hours day? Back in China worked construction. So this still feels better than that. In China, he earned 6,000–8,000 yuan (US$900-1100) month. About that, yeah. And he often had to work late into the night without overtime pay. You didn’t even get weekends off. No. No time off at all. It sounds like you two are on the same page about life and future, right? want to buy house here in three years. Can you really pull that off? We just have to work hard. We just have to work hard. Save US$7,000 month. US$7,000? OK! US dollars? Yes, US dollars. When she’s busy, she’s out working till 2 or 3am. US immigration policy has changed lot, and many people worry they might not be able to stay. We worry too. But what can we do? If it really came to that, would you still feel that coming to America was… I’d move to another country. wouldn’t go back to China.