The Babies Left Behind: Caitlin Dickerson on the New Family-Separation Crisis
Luciana hugs her mother Sandra Chica, the wife of Pablo Villavicencio, an immigrant deliveryman who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while delivering pizza to Fort Hamilton Army base in Brooklyn, at a news conference on June 18, 2018 in New York City. On Monday Chica filed a formal request for his release with ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations branch. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Airdate: Friday, October 2, 2026 at 10am
In his second term, President Trump has aggressively targeted immigrant communities away from the border, and tens of thousands of immigrant parents are being detained and deported without their children. More than 200,000 children—most of them American citizens—have been separated from their parents, and many have been left behind with temporary caregivers. Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Caitlin Dickerson’s latest investigation for The Atlantic, “The Babies Left Behind in America,” documents the policy changes that have allowed ICE to prioritize deportation quotas over child welfare. We speak with Dickerson about the hidden toll of this domestic separation crisis and what it means for families across the country.
Guests:
- Caitlin Dickerson, staff writer, The Atlantic, 2023 Pulitzer Prize recipient for her reporting on immigration, author of new article “The Babies Left Behind in America.”
- Kelly Kribs, co-director, Technical Assistance Program, The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights