Entre el Abandono y el Rechazo (Between Abandonment and Rejection)

An investigative report that also qualifies as public service on this side of the U.S.-Mexican border, Entre el Abandono y el Rechazo (Between Abandonment and Rejection) provides multi-perspective context that is often missing in mainstream, English-language media reports about the thousands of Central American children seeking asylum in the U.S. Univision reporter María Elena Salinas calls the exodus an “act of desperation” and supports her explanation with video and interviews she and her team captured in Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, three of the most violent in countries in the world now thanks to gangs and drug cartels. We hear from mothers who choose to send their young children on unaccompanied treks north rather than let gangs enlist or kill them, kids who’ve made these harrowing treks, and the presidents of two of those countries. When pressed about his government’s inability to subdue the gangs, Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras says, “If most of the drug use occurs in the U.S. and the drugs are the cause of all this violence, don’t you think the U.S. should also take responsibility?” Good question, good program. For letting viewers see and hear why Central American children are fleeing to our southern border in unprecedented numbers, Entre el Abandono y el Rechazo (Between Abandonment and Rejection) receives a Peabody Award.