The Honduran toddler pictured sobbing in a pink jacket before U.S. President Donald Trump on an upcoming cover of Time magazine was not separated from her mother at the U.S. border, according to a man who says he is the girl’s father.
The original photograph, taken at the scene of a border detention by Getty Images photographer John Moore, became one of the iconic images in the flurry of media coverage about the separation of families by the Trump administration.
‘A symbol of separation’
“My daughter has become a symbol of the ... separation of children at the U.S. border. She may have even touched President Trump’s heart,” said Denis Valera in a phone interview. He said the girl and her mother, Sandra Sanchez, have been detained together in the Texas town of McAllen, where Ms. Sanchez has applied for asylum, and they were not separated after being detained near the border.
Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Nelly Jerez confirmed Mr. Valera’s version of events. Mr. Varela said he was awestruck and pained when he first saw the photo of his crying daughter on TV. “Seeing what was happening to her in that moment breaks anyone’s heart,” he said.
The photo was used on a Facebook fundraiser that drew more than $17 million dollars in donations from close to half a million people for the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides legal defense services to immigrants and refugees.
