(Time)

Time magazine on Friday defended its decision to feature a photo of a crying toddler who was never separated from her mother on the cover of its July issue detailing family separations at the border.

“The June 12 photograph of the 2-year-old Honduran girl became the most visible symbol of the ongoing immigration debate in America for a reason,” a Time spokesman said in a statement provided to CNN. “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 photo, which shows a two-year-old Honduran girl crying as her mother is being patted down by border-patrol agents, accompanied a Time article that falsely stated the girl was carried away from her mother screaming. The story was later corrected to state that the girl and her mother were loaded into a van together.

The crying Honduran girl on the cover of Time was not separated from her mother, father says https://t.co/HACVjoYThd — Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 22, 2018

After seeing the photo, which was modified on the Time cover to depict President Trump looming over the girl, the girl’s father told several media outlets that his wife and daughter were never separated, but were actually placed together in a family-detention center.

In addition to appearing on the forthcoming cover of Time, the photo was reprinted in several international newspapers and was used to promote a fundraiser that netted $18 million for separated families.


NOW WATCH: ‘Honduran Migrant Girl in Viral Picture was Never Separated From Family’

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