Girl in symbolic picture not separated from mom

NEW YORK — A crying Honduran girl depicted in a widely seen photograph that became a symbol for many of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies was not actually separated from her mother, U.S. government officials said Friday.

Time magazine used an image of the girl, by Getty Images photographer John Moore, on its cover this week, next to a picture of a towering Trump. While Time corrected a story it had written about the photo, its top editor defended the 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.”

The photo spread widely as the discussion heated up of Trump’s since-reversed policy of separating parents who are caught illegally crossing into the United States from their children. The government’s policy of not allowing photographs of children being detained heightened the impact of pictures about the immigration issue.

The girl’s picture, along with an audio file of crying children that was given to reporters at ProPublica, helped galvanize public opinion against the administration’s policy.

“At no point did I ever say that the girl and her mother had definitely been separated,” Moore said, “but at the time I took the photo that was a very real possibility even for young children. 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.”

Moore said it wasn’t until he found out from ICE that he knew they weren’t separated. ICE said Sanchez is

being housed at one of the government’s three existing family detention facilities at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, 230 miles north of McAllen, Texas. The agency would not provide information about the girl, citing privacy concerns.

Time magazine said in a correction to a story written earlier this week about the photograph that “the girl was not carried away screaming by U.S. border patrol agents. Her mother picked her up and the two were taken away together.”

It was not immediately clear how the error occurred.

Time decided to use the photo for its memorable cover, showing Trump and the girl before a red background and the caption, “Welcome to America,” even after it learned about its mistake.

The photo “became the most visible symbol of the ongoing immigration debate in America for a reason,” said Edward Felsenthal, Time editor-in-chief.

JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES A 2-year-old Honduran cries as her mother, Sandra Sanchez, is searched and detained near the U.S.-Mexico border June 12 in McAllen, Texas. The photo became a rallying cry for foes of U.S. immigration policies.