Even the ALPBC have woken up.
Crying Honduran girl in photo at US-Mexico border not separated from mother
Updated about 2 hours agoSat 23 Jun 2018, 10:44am
A crying Honduran girl depicted in a photograph that became a symbol of President Donald Trump's immigration policies was not actually separated from her mother, according to her father and US government officials.
Time magazine used an image of the girl on its cover this week, next to a picture of a towering Mr Trump.
The girl's picture, along with an audio file of crying children that was given to reporters, helped galvanise public opinion against the US President's since-reversed policy of separating parents who are caught illegally crossing into the United States from their children.
More than 2,000 children were separated from their parents under the policy, according to the Reuters news agency.
The photo was taken on June 12 by Getty Images photographer John Moore, who was on patrol with US border officials when they encountered the girl's mother, identified as Sandra Sanchez.
The girl was crying as officials searched Ms Sanchez, who US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said had been deported from the United States once before.
In Honduras, the girl's father said Ms Sanchez took their daughter to the United States without telling him.
Denis Varela said the Honduran foreign ministry told him his daughter was detained with her mother, and the two had not been separated.
Mr Varela, a dockworker, said the ministry gave him the girl's detainee identification number a couple of days ago.
ICE said Ms Sanchez was being housed at one of the Government's three existing family detention facilities at the South Texas Family Residential Centre in Dilley, Texas, 370 kilometres north of McAllen, Texas.
The agency would not provide information about the girl, citing privacy concerns.
Sanders hits out at 'shameful' coverage, Time defends cover
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said it was "shameful" that Democrats and the media exploited the photograph to push an agenda.
"She was not separated from her mom," Sanders tweeted. "The separation here is from the facts."
Time magazine issued a correction to its story, saying "the girl was not carried away screaming by US border patrol agents".
Her mother picked her up and the two were taken away together, the magazine said.
But the magazine defended its decision to use the photo on its cover, even after it learned about its mistake.
The photo "became the most visible symbol of the ongoing immigration debate in America for a reason," Time's editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal argued.
"Under the policy enforced by the administration, prior to its reversal this week, those who crossed the border illegally were criminally prosecuted, which in turn resulted in the separation of children and parents. Our cover and our reporting capture the stakes of this moment."
The border patrol agent who picked up Sanchez, Carlos Ruiz, told CBS News that "they're using it to symbolise a policy and that was not the case with this picture."
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Moore said that he was happy to hear that although Ms Sanchez and her daughter were being detained, they were still together.
"At no point did I ever say that the girl and her mother had definitely been separated, but at the time I took the photo that was a very real possibility even for young children," the photographer said.
"I think I've been very clear from the start that the mother and daughter were taken away in the van together but that we didn't know what would happen to them."
"The photograph I took is a straightforward and honest image," he added.
"It shows a brief moment in time of a distressed little girl, whose mother is being searched as they are both taken into custody.
"I believe this image has raised awareness of the zero tolerance policy of the current administration.
"Having covered immigration for Getty Images for 10 years, this photograph for me is part of a much larger story."
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