A viral photo that appeared to depict a child detained at the border over his immigration status was actually taken at a protest, according to fact-checkers.
The image was shared by social media users like journalist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas, who said in the caption: “This is what happens when a government believes people are ‘illegal.’ Kids in cages.”
This is what happens when a government believes people are “illegal.”
Kids in cages. pic.twitter.com/OAnvr9cl3P
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) June 12, 2018
“Still trying to find a source for this photo. Saw it on a FB friend’s timeline but looking for confirmation. Has anyone seen it elsewhere?” Vargas continued.
However, fact-checking websites Snopes and PolitiFact found other pictures of the boy wearing the same clothes at a demonstration on June 10 organized by the Brown Berets de Cemanahuac’s Texas chapter in Dallas.
“We demand the release of the children being held in a jail and being treated like animals. We will not go away until we have answers!” the group wrote with a photo album from the event protesting the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, which has resulted in family separations.
Leroy Pena, who took the image, told PolitiFact the youngster had followed his older brother into the enclosure before spotting his mother outside.
“He was only in there 30 seconds,” Pena said.
Under the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy, which was announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in April, all illegal immigrants are referred to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
The move has led to an increase in the number of children separated from their family units as their parents or guardians are prosecuted for illegally crossing the U.S. border. This is because minors cannot be held in detention facilities for long periods of time.
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Friday that almost 2,000 children were affected by the policy between April 19 and May 31. They are then housed by the Department of Health and Human Services.
