“I’m not like, Rambo, or anything.” —Alejandro Orellana, Marine Corps veteran and protester who was arrested by the FBI after anti-ICE protests in LA
Over the past year, President Donald Trump’s administration has touted the success of its national immigration sweeps and the arrests of people who publicly opposed the operations, routinely portraying dissenters as being domestic terrorists or extremists.
FRONTLINE and @propublica ’s documentary “Caught in the Crackdown” investigates these arrests and accusations, finding that over and over again, the charges against protesters were debunked by video footage and fell apart before making it to trial.
Comment “documentary” and we’ll DM you a link to the full film examining the violence, protests and arrests stemming from federal immigration sweeps.
In connection with World Press Freedom Day earlier this month, we asked: Are you willing to stand with FRONTLINE? And you did. We are so grateful to you, our viewers, for your generous contributions to FRONTLINE over the past few weeks. Thank you for supporting public media and helping to keep our journalism fearless and free. If you haven’t given yet — there’s still time. Comment "Donate" and we will DM you a link with more information about donating.
President Trump wanted the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Fed chair Jerome Powell refused. Then came the insults, the accusations, and the president’s “shocking” televised visit to the Fed.
The highly public clash between the president and the Fed over the institution’s independence and economic policy decisions is the subject of FRONTLINE’s “The President vs. the Fed,” which chronicles the roots and ramifications of Trump’s unprecedented attempt to assert control over the most powerful institution in the U.S. economy during his second term.
Congress designed the Fed to be insulated from political interference so it would be free to act in the long-term interest of the economy. But Trump allies argue the Fed’s independence has shielded it from accountability for its mistakes, including its slow response to rampant inflation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Trump has been within his rights to try to force Powell out.
“The Fed has gotten too big for its britches,” Judy Shelton, a former Trump economic adviser, says in the documentary.
Opponents argue that the Fed’s political independence allows it to make unpopular monetary policy decisions that a politician couldn’t.
Watch the full documentary at the link in our bio.
On May 13, 1985, a years-long feud between the Black revolutionary group MOVE and Philadelphia officials reached a bloody culmination. Police dropped a bomb on the group's home in a residential Black neighborhood and let the resulting fire rage.
How it happened, and who was responsible, is the focus of FRONTLINE's 1987 documentary "The Bombing of West Philly."
As the documentary chronicles, the bombing and the resulting fire destroyed not just the MOVE compound, but also 61 surrounding homes — including those belonging to frustrated neighbors who had complained about MOVE’s tactics to city officials and begged for their help.
“I’m very, very bitter. And I make no bones about it, and I don’t care where chips fall because I know one thing, if it would ever happen in a white neighborhood, they would’ve snuffed it out, no question,” said Gerald Renfrow, one of more than 250 people left homeless by the bombing.
Eleven people were killed at MOVE’s headquarters, five of them children. The Philadelphia City Council issued a formal apology for the MOVE bombing in 2020. No city officials were ever criminally charged.
"The President vs. the Fed," FRONTLINE's examination of President Trump's unprecedented challenges to the Federal Reserve, is now streaming on PBS and YouTube.
Filmmakers James Jacoby and Anya Bourg explore the president's attempts to assert control over the country's central bank, the most powerful institution in the U.S. economy.
“When you look at Trump’s economic agenda, this fight is actually the most consequential of his presidency,” journalist Christopher Leonard says in the documentary. “I think he knows that his economic and political success is dependent on what the Fed does. And so this attack for him is almost existential.”
To watch the full documentary, click the link in our bio.
The Salvadoran news outlet @elfaronet says President Nayib Bukele’s government has frozen the personal assets of two of its shareholders in retaliation for its reporting.
The news comes a month after FRONTLINE and El Faro released the documentary “The Deal: Trump, Bukele & the Gangs of El Salvador,” chronicling how El Faro uncovered evidence that Bukele’s administration had made pacts with violent gangs it claimed to be fighting, including MS-13.
After El Faro's initial reporting, the popular Salvadoran leader, who had publicly said that he would never negotiate with gangs because “you are giving them legitimacy,” claimed “El Faro lied” and said documents showing his administration’s dealings with gang leaders were “fake.”
Bukele’s targeting over the years, El Faro’s editor-in-chief Carlos Dada told FRONTLINE, has forced El Faro to dedicate “significant economic and human resources” to defending itself. “That is time and resources we should have used reporting and producing good journalism,” Dada said. “So it has tremendously affected our operations and the public right to be informed.”
Dada and much of El Faro's staff now live and report in exile.
To learn more about El Faro’s investigations into Bukele’s government, click the link in our bio.
Carlos Dada's staff at Salvadoran news outlet @elfaronet has been reporting in exile for years following harassment and escalating pressure under President Nayib Bukele's government.
In a new episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch podcast, Dada chronicles the challenges his newsroom has faced. As governments consolidate power and restrict access to information, he argues, independent reporting becomes both more difficult and more essential.
FRONTLINE investigates President Trump's unprecedented challenges to the Federal Reserve — and what this moment means for the economy. "The President vs. the Fed" premieres Tuesday, May 12, on PBS and YouTube.
Growing up in northwest Georgia, Stormy Bost would play in the neighborhood creek, pluck crawdads from its depths and drink the sweet tea her family brewed using tap water.
She raised her kids the same way — until a few years ago, when she learned that the water contains toxic chemicals known as PFAS.
Testing of Bost’s blood reveals she has PFAS levels higher than what the national health guidelines consider safe. At 34, she has been diagnosed with liver and thyroid conditions — the types of ailments that research has linked to the chemicals.
For years, the carpet manufacturers that dominate the region relied on PFAS for stain resistance. Some of these chemicals that didn’t stick were flushed with the industry’s wastewater into sewer pipes, and eventually, the Conasauga River.
Government officials in Georgia knew about the contamination decades ago and did little, even as concerns grew among scientists and federal regulators.
An investigation by The Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and FRONTLINE (PBS) dives into Georgia’s inaction as an unfolding environmental crisis spread beyond its borders.
Read more at the link in bio.
#PHOTOS by Miguel Martinez/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
ONE IN A MILLION is a DC/DOX official selection!
Our Washington DC premiere is happening Sunday, June 14 at 1:30 PM at Woolly Mammoth Theatre.
#dcdoxfest26
With press freedom under threat in various countries, FRONTLINE has spotlighted the stories of journalists holding power to account — and the forces working against them. Our documentaries reveal how reporters and editors who investigated corruption, wrongdoing or human rights violations have faced threats — from government crackdowns and intimidation, to censorship, online harassment and the possibility of imprisonment or violence.
On World Press Freedom Day, we stand with our colleagues practicing independent, fact-based journalism and reflect on the importance of an independent press. Will you join us?
Donate to FRONTLINE today and support reporting that holds the powerful accountable — on World Press Freedom Day and always. Comment "support" and we will DM you with more information.
In March 2025, a sweeping immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump led to hundreds of individuals being deported from the U.S. to a notorious prison in El Salvador known as CECOT.
Behind the deportations was a deal worked out between Trump and President Nayib Bukele — a popular Latin American leader who had once called himself the world’s coolest dictator and built a reputation for being tough on gangs in El Salvador and lowering homicide rates.
Drawn to the implications of this deal, director Juan Ravell and producer Jeff Arak set out to examine and document the story behind the headlines. They spoke to FRONTLINE about working with the journalists at El Faro and the importance of press freedom. Read more at the link in our bio.
