When the U.S. puts a border between migrant kids and their caretakers

FILE PHOTO: Construction equipment is seen at a tent encampment near the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) port of entry in Tornillo, Texas, U.S., as seen from the international bridge Guadalupe - Tornillo, in Guadalupe, Mexico, October 6, 2018. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

(Reuters) - On June 12, Gerardo, a 41-year-old indigenous bricklayer from Guatemala, appeared before a U.S. immigration judge in El Paso, Texas. Since crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally two months earlier with his 14-year-old son, he had been separated from the boy and forced to wait in Mexico for his hearing.

Now, he had only one question for the judge: “Can you help me get my son back?”