Stories of immigration crisis in PBS documentary by Miami producer

Frida Barreto. Gaby Pacheco. Oscar Turcio.

These are some of the names in the ongoing immigration crisis that has brought more than 11 million undocumented immigrants to the United States who see no immediate solution to their plight.

Their stories will be featured in the documentary The Crossfire Kids set to air at 7:30 and 11:30 p.m. Monday and 11 p.m. Oct. 21 on WPBT-PBS 2.

The 30-minute video was produced in part by Oscar Corral, a Miami video producer and former Miami Herald reporter. A previous Corral documentary, Tom Wolfe Gets Back to Blood, was aired by PBS in 2012.

Corral says he helped produce The Crossfire Kids to share the plight of undocumented immigrants who came here as children and to help push for immigration reform.

“It’s very topical right now because it deals with young immigrants who have had a very difficult time adapting to the United States with the immigration policy problems we have,” Corral said in an interview. “Immigration reform is badly needed and we’re doing a terrible injustice to these young people.”

Corral, 40, worked with another video producer, Qin Chen, for more than a year and a half.

The video features a series of interviews with immigrants and immigrant rights activists who favor legalization for undocumented immigrants.

One of the most wrenching stories is that of Turcio, a young man who fled Honduras after his father and brother were killed by gang members.

The video also features Pacheco, an Ecuadorean brought to the United States by her family when she was a child.

Today, Pacheco is one of the most prominent leaders of the national Dreamer movement, which persuaded President Barack Obama in 2012 to issue a program in which children brought to the United States illegally by their parents are temporarily shielded against deportation.

In 2010, Pacheco was one of four immigrants who walked from Miami to Washington, D.C., to highlight the struggle for legalization for undocumented young immigrants.

Barreto of Peru opens the video with her harrowing journey from being an undocumented immigrant who dreamed of going to college to becoming a thriving student after qualifying for Obama’s deportation reprieve program.

This story was originally published October 12, 2014 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Stories of immigration crisis in PBS documentary by Miami producer."