White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blasted the media for elevating a picture of a little crying illegal immigrant girl as a symbol of separated families at the U.S.-Mexico border.
It’s shameful that dems and the media exploited this photo of a little girl to push their agenda. She was not separated from her mom. The separation here is from the facts. Dems should join POTUS and fix our broken immigration system. #ChangetheLawshttps://t.co/Y6KrTp4Ulk
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 22, 2018
The crying girl was featured on the cover of Time Magazine as a symbol of separated children, despite the fact that her father back in Honduras says she was never separated from her mother.
The new Time magazine cover is a chilling portrayal of the political controversy over separating families at the border. https://t.co/8lkmVdWRoK pic.twitter.com/7UtspJgq94
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 21, 2018
The girl’s father told The Daily Mail and Reuters that his wife was never separated from her daughter, that his wife did not tell him of her decision to emigrate and that she was seeking a job, not asylum.
The father told TDM that his wife wanted “the American dream” and hoped to find a good job in the United States, undermining her claim that she is seeking political asylum across the border as a result of credible fear.
Father of the now famous photo of the little girl crying says his wife/child were never separated at any time by authorities, that his wife was seeking a job (not fleeing violence), and that he is upset w/ her for taking his child on the dangerous journey https://t.co/owZH204b2A pic.twitter.com/ruZt263tDu
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) June 22, 2018
The Honduran government confirmed the fathers account to Reuters.
The Honduran government has confirmed to Reuters that the crying girl on the TIME cover was never separated from her mother by US authorities https://t.co/WssaVCRvKe pic.twitter.com/1uA4gV5sUD
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) June 22, 2018