Crisanta Ramos, 30, from Guatemala, collects salal from the forest near Forks, Washington. Photograph: Felix Clay  In a week when it was discovered that two thirds of the 2 million undocumented immigrants deported from the US under the Obama administration had committed only minor infractions or had no criminal record, the Guardian traveled from the forests of Washington to detention centres in Tijuana, in order to allow some to share their stories.  Reporter Rory Carroll and photographer Felix Clay met migrant workers who make their living picking salal and mushrooms in Forks, Washington; those workers described being hunted by Border Patrol agents as the town's residents reported a general feeling of unease.  In Tacoma, a handful of the 34,000 undocumented migrants in detention facilities spoke of being treated like criminals despite having no criminal record.  And in Tijiuana, where some 60,000 undocumented migrants were deposited last year, detainees reeled from their traumatic experiences.  Mexican nationals comprised 65.5% of the 368,644 deportees last year, creating a thorny situation for the US government and difficulties for thousands of migrant families struggling with poverty, single parenthood and a loss of identity.  Carroll joined Maru Mora of Latino Advocacy Friday to discuss the reporting and the issues at stake. Read the transcript below and explore the series:  • The backward trek from Washington to Mexico• 'They put me in shackles. Why? I'm not a criminal'• 'Stuck in Tijuana hoping for a miracle: the deportees with nowhere to go'  Question for Rory Carroll: Can you tell us more about how border patrol efforts have impacted local economies and small communities in Forks, Washington?  The Border Patrol devastated the latino community. It's about half what it was - hundreds fled south, beyond BP reach. Those that remain are anxious. Local schools, trailer parks, salal merchants and stores are suffering.  Question for Maru Mora: Can you please tell us more about efforts in Mexico by local and national authorities to support deportees, and reinsertion?  There are no real support efforts in Mexico for those that are deported. I just received a call from a person deported arriving in Mexico City. He told me is lucky because he has family there. He lost his 3 children to the state and is trying to come back to gain custody again.  Question for Rory Carroll: What are the most important things that the admin can do quickly to provide relief?  One measure would be to expand the pool of judges who hear immigration cases so people who are resisting deportation don't sit in detention centres for months and years waiting to argue their case. It's nuts that there are thousands of underemployed Border Patrol agents and way too few judges. Another way to humanise the system is to oblige Ice and Customs and Border Protection to notify families when they detain someone. Many of the deportees I interviewed in Tijuana said they hadn't had a chance to talk to families since being scooped up. Imagine the impact on a child when Dad goes out to work and vanishes for days, maybe weeks, before discovering what's happened.  Question for Rory Carroll: Rory, any key takeaways from your reporting? You had the numbers in front of you and went and humanized the story, but what else did you learn from this trip?  I learned that marginalised families are being snagged and pulled apart by a system impelled by bureaucratic and political inertia. I'm not unbiased on the subject. I'm Irish, and our history has been one of emigration and having a tough time, at the beginning, on foreign shores. Yes the US needs to control the flow. But this broken system needlessly punishes families. I respect and admire the courage of those who build better lives here against the odds.
Transcript: As we close a three-part series exploring the Obama administration's commitment to deportations, our experts spoke about what's at stake for immigrants – and the US government itself