Emmy-Winning Documentary Captures Work of Águilas

Águilas del Desierto's efforts to locate missing migrants highlighted in award-winning film.

Earlier this year, BBC journalists accompanied volunteers from Águilas del Desierto (Eagles of the Desert) to search for a missing young man named Raul Sanchez. His family provided extensive information, which helped the group eventually locate his body, still wearing the clothes they had described. 

Normally, volunteers refrain from identifying remains until DNA testing is complete, but in this instance, his clothing and identification matched those of the missing man. BBC journalists captured this remarkable search in a 22-minute documentary, highlighting the ongoing work of volunteers. The video has since garnered nearly 4 million views.

Watch the Emmy-Winning Documentary

This documentary went on to win an Emmy Award recently for “Outstanding Feature Story in Spanish.” Watch the full documentary on YouTube. It is fully in Spanish, but English closed captioning can be turned on by going to Settings, selecting Auto-Translate, and choosing English to follow along.

Águilas hopes that more people will gain a deeper understanding of the true crisis unfolding at the border and the countless young lives tragically lost in their desperate pursuit of freedom from violence and poverty.

Learn more about Águilas del Desierto

Águilas del Desierto in the Media

POV/PBS (Documentaries with a Point of View) and The New Yorker Documentary – 2021 SXSW-Winning Short: “Águilas” tells the story of Águilas del Desierto, who look for migrants who go missing crossing the border—often finding only their remains.

Watch “Águilas”


CNN – “No Olvidado” is CNN’s documentary about death and dignity on the US-Mexico border.

Watch “No Olvidado”


PBS News – Special correspondent Jean Guerrero of KPBS Fronteras joins a group of volunteers on a search.

Watch “Dying to Get Here”


The New York Times Simon Romero, a national correspondent for The New York Times based in Albuquerque, highlights Águilas del Desierto’s mission to recover bodies of migrants lost in the desert.

Read “They Have a Mission in the Desert”

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Founded in Poland in 1855, the Felician Sisters are a congregation of women religious inspired by the spiritual ideals of their foundress, Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska, and Saints Francis of Assisi, Clare of Assisi and Felix of Cantalice. Arriving in North America in 1874 following Blessed Mary Angela’s directive “to serve where needed,” they helped to weave the social service system. Today, the Felician Sisters founded, sponsor or support through the presence of our sisters, more than 40 ministries – all continuing to evolve to meet the needs of the people they serve.

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