Candidates speak out about image of a Salvadoran father and his daughter, who were found dead at the US-Mexico border

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Democratic presidential candidates rushed to condemn the “inhumane” situation on the US border with Mexico – with some directly blaming Donald Trump – after a picture of a Salvadoran father and his toddler daughter found dead in the Rio Grande shocked the nation.

The photograph, which emerged on Tuesday night, showed Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez, 26, and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria laying facedown near Matamoros, Mexico, on the bank of the river that marks the US border – reopening a fierce debate about the scale of the crisis.

The picture, by journalist Julia Le Duc, has drawn comparisons to the 2015 image of three-year-old Syrian boy Alan Kurdi, who drowned off Kos in Greece – sparking a significant moment in the European debate over migrants and refugees.

Beto O’Rourke said: “Trump is responsible for these deaths.” Writing on Twitter, the former Texas congressman added: “As his administration refuses to follow our laws – preventing refugees from presenting themselves for asylum at our ports of entry – they cause families to cross between ports, ensuring greater suffering & death. At the expense of our humanity, not to the benefit of our safety.”

Fellow 2020 hopeful senator Kamala Harris condemned the picture as “a stain on our moral conscience”. She wrote: “These families seeking asylum are often fleeing extreme violence. And what happens when they arrive? Trump says, ‘Go back to where you came from.’ That is inhumane. Children are dying.”

Corey Booker, New Jersey senator and 2020 candidate, also blamed the president. “We should not look away. These are the consequences of Donald Trump’s inhumane and immoral immigration policy. This is being done in our name,” he tweeted.

Play Video 1:21 US border: photo of drowned father and daughter highlights migrants’ peril – video report

At a town hall in Miami on Tuesday night, Elizabeth Warren talked about her distressing experience visiting a detention centre in McCallen, Texas, last year, which she compared to a “giant Amazon warehouse” full of cages full of people.

Responding to a request by an audience member, she agreed to visit Homestead detention centre in Florida ahead of the first televised Democrat debate in Miami.

“So I’m going to Homestead tomorrow, come with me,” she said, bringing audience members to their feet.

To cheers she called for “more aid” for central America and help to stabilize those countries and better treatment for those who cross the border into the US. “Treat the people who come here with the dignity and kindness that marks the United States of America,” she said.

But frontrunners Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders so far appear to have remained silent on the issue.

Trump did not comment directly on the picture, but used the opportunity to criticize the Democrats over their border policies, making a series of untrue claims.

“Too bad the Dems in Congress won’t do anything at all about Border Security,” he tweeted. “They want Open Borders, which means crime. But we are getting it done, including building the Wall! More people than ever before are coming because the USA Economy is so good, the best in history.”

He added in a second tweet: “Democrats want Open Borders, which equals violent crime, drugs and human trafficking. They also want very high taxes, like 90%. Republicans want what’s good for America – the exact opposite!”

• This article was amended on 27 June 2019 to correct the spelling of Alan Kurdi’s name.