The Hidden Third — Journalist Jacob Soboroff on Family Separation, ICE Raids, and the LA Fires

Host: Mariana van Zeller
Guest: Jacob Soboroff (journalist, book author, NBC/MSNBC correspondent)
Date: January 28, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode explores the underbelly of American immigration policy, the human costs and political machinations behind family separation, the ongoing impact of ICE raids, and the devastation of the LA fires—all through the deeply personal and journalistic lens of Jacob Soboroff. Mariana and Jacob share a candid, wide-ranging conversation on the power of empathy in journalism, lived trauma, political accountability, and the importance of witnessing and telling people’s stories, especially those who are often rendered invisible.

Main Discussion Themes

1. The Human Cost of Immigration Policy

• Firsthand Reporting from Detention Centers

  • Jacob describes witnessing children in cages at the McAllen processing center: “Kids in cages on the floor, sleeping on the concrete and the linoleum and the Mylar blankets, and supervised by security contractor in a watchtower...whatever we're doing, it's not working. And it's cruel and criminalizing people and hurting people.” (00:22)

• Family Separation as Ongoing Policy

  • While border separations received heavy media scrutiny, Jacob details the shift under Trump to broader "family separation in the interior" via mass raids and deportations. "This is family separation on steroids. What they're doing right now." (01:24–01:47, 57:24)

• Empathy and Community

  • Both Mariana and Jacob stress empathy as essential to their work. The connection formed with their subjects—often immigrants or people facing systemic crisis—forms the backbone of their reporting.

    “My job is therapy because...we get to meet people who are either judged for doing what they do or in their worst moments, ever, at their lowest point...” — Jacob (27:29)

  • Mariana: “Our job is to create connection between the viewers and the people they're reporting about. Humanize the people and create connections with people you think you have nothing in common with.” (28:41)

2. Behind the Scenes: Journalism and Introspection

• Paths into Journalism and Personal Motivation

  • Both describe formative childhood experiences that led them to journalism—Mariana to impress her knowledge-driven father, Jacob following family role models in civic engagement and seeking to witness “facts on the ground.” (04:08–05:57, 29:45–31:25)

  • Jacob on not attending journalism school: “Red carpet hosting is humbling and sometimes humiliating, but also great training for, like, bird-dogging people…That's really good translating to my journalist life.” (07:30)

• Flow State, Insecurities, and Imposter Syndrome

  • Jacob candidly admits to imposter syndrome and intense self-doubt: “Sometimes I'm very self-conscious about why am I the right person to tell a particular story...” (33:21)

  • Both discuss overcoming live camera anxiety, learning from mistakes, and striving for authenticity: “Be yourself. Everybody else is already taken.” — Mariana (40:22)

  • The importance of not over-preparing and letting interviews flow spontaneously, drawing inspiration from documentary legend Errol Morris. (18:53–19:46)

  • On crediting others and humility: “The book is as much theirs as it is mine because these are their stories, too. That's what I do. That's what we signed up to do.” — Jacob, on his fire reporting (35:54)

3. The Impact and Process of Immigration Reporting

• Policy, Politics, and Bipartisan Responsibility

  • Jacob traces family separation’s roots beyond Trump, highlighting decades of bipartisan punitive policies, from Clinton, Bush, and Obama to Biden.

    “This was the logical, even though it was cruel extension of decades of bipartisan, deterrence-based, punitive-based immigration policy that was meant to harm people who came here for a better life.” (51:39)

• Witnessing and Documenting Trauma

  • Jacob's reporting, both for television and his book Separated, centers the lived experience of those directly impacted—capturing the fear, confusion, and permanent disruption for children and families.

    “I will never forget those feelings of just looking around and seeing people and their future is hanging the balance...before they're separated and the parent is sent to ICE and the kid sent to the Walmart.” (57:09)

• Memorable Cases

  • Nori Santay Ramos and mother Estela: Detained at a routine immigration check, deported, Estela died in Guatemala without medication. “These are the people that they're deporting.” (58:03–59:59)
  • The “Death Train” story—people risking limb and life for a shot at the American dream (41:00).
  • Jacob’s ethical wrestling with being invited into detention centers to “bear witness,” yet acknowledging “the cruelty is the point"—to deter future migration. (48:38)

4. The LA Fires: Trauma, Recovery & Climate Risk

• Personal and Journalistic Convergence

  • The LA fires become personal for Jacob as his childhood neighborhood, Pacific Palisades, burns. Reporting in the field while dealing with personal loss, he describes,

    “Watching my childhood neighborhood and the neighborhood that I spend so much time now in Altadena....carbonize, as I said, incinerate in front of my eyes...” (74:14)

  • The challenge of emotional processing while reporting: “There was not enough space in my brain for it. It was impossible.” (77:19)

• Hidden Labor and Vulnerable Communities

  • “Second responders”—immigrant laborers—are critical in disaster aftermath, yet are the most targeted by ICE and often lack governmental support. (64:09–65:14)

  • Stories like Herb and Loida Wilson, who lost everything and moved ten times since the fire, demonstrate resilience and the overlooked toll on working families and undocumented workers (84:45–86:21).

• Disaster Politics and Misinformation

  • Jacob explores how misinformation, political agendas, and system failures (local and federal) exacerbate disasters—citing everything from Trump and Musk’s conspiracy theories to infrastructure gaps. (79:02–81:10)
  • “The global climate emergency, changes in the way we live....and misinformation and disinformation....those are the politics of blame, basically.” (80:54)

• Memorable Moments

  • Firefighter heroism and emotional burden: “I love the speech that [Chief Anthony Moroney] gave. He apologized for not being able to save a house, or a life, or a business...so much guilt.” (89:09–90:44)

  • Found hope amid destruction: A burned house yields a tile reading, “‘God doesn't send you through troubled waters to drown you, but to cleanse you.’ Lloyd had told me about her reaction upon finding it: God, thank you for talking to me, because I know you're here for us.” (86:21)

5. The Toll of the Work and the Strength of Community

• Family and Sacrifice

  • Jacob acknowledges the sacrifices of family and the ambiguity felt by kids when parents work in high-intensity fields. “I worry about feelings of abandonment and resentment from our kids. I also believe it exposes them to things...that are going to make them incredible, incredible human beings.” (92:20)

  • The final reading from Jacob’s book echoes gratitude:

    “Thank you, most importantly, to my extraordinary family, for whom Los Angeles is as much a part of our DNA as our genetics...I want you to know how much I appreciate the amount you all sacrificed during the fires and after to enable me to go on this journey. This book is dedicated to my fellow Angelenos, including, and especially you. I love you.” (91:32)

Notable Quotes

• "Facts on the ground—as a guy we know, Mitch Koss, producer, used to say all the time—it's just about figuring out what's happening there and then...communicate that." — Jacob (12:00)
• "Our job is to create connection...humanize the people and create connections with people that you think you have nothing in common." — Mariana (28:41)
• "The cruelty is the point of the policy, to scare people from coming." — Jacob (48:38)
• On family separation and mass deportation: "These are all family separation policies...happening by taking instead of kids away from parents at the border, parents away from kids in their communities now all across the country." (01:17, 57:24)
• "I don't have the solutions. But what I can tell you is, whatever we're doing, it's not working...it's cruel and criminalizing people and hurting people." — Jacob (00:22; reiterated 52:28)
• On coping and humanity: "This book is definitely, definitely part of the reason, because I got to spend so much time looking inward and learning from other people who are looking inward also. It's the greatest gift I've ever been given, and it's why I think it's the most important assignment I've ever undertaken." (85:17)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Family Separation and Immigration Policy — Cruelty & Consequences
  00:22–01:47 | 47:25–53:54 | 54:27–57:46
• Personal Journalism Stories (Formative Years, Red Carpets, Anxiety)
  04:08–13:00
• On Empathy, Spontaneity, and Authenticity in Reporting
  18:53–20:33 | 28:41–29:45
• Flow State, Imposter Syndrome, and Family Reflection
  33:21–36:08
• Death Train—Reporting Immigration at the Mexican Border
  40:50–41:22
• ICE Raids & Interior Family Separation
  57:24–58:06
• Estela and Nori’s Story, Human Cost of Deportation
  58:03–61:19
• LA Fires: Trauma, Coverage, and Rebuilding
  74:14–81:51
• Disaster, Misinformation, and the Fire of the Future
  79:02–81:10
• Personal Toll and the Importance of Community and Family
  91:29–93:15

Key Takeaways

• Immigration enforcement and deterrence policies are not only bipartisan and historic, but have moral, psychological, and systemic consequences well beyond the news cycle.
• Empathy, authenticity, and connecting with people shape the best, most impactful journalism—yet public policy and discourse often dehumanize the very people most affected.
• Disasters like the LA fires are both personal and communal tragedies, exposing systemic inequality, governmental failure, and the underappreciated contribution of marginalized workers.
• Bearing witness—whether to family separation or disaster—carries a heavy emotional toll for journalists and their families, but also offers opportunities for connection, healing, and the pursuit of justice.

This episode is a testament to the necessity of storytelling that seeks deeper truth, honors the lived experience of those affected, and remains unflinchingly human in the face of national trauma and political complexity.