Last Updated Jun 26, 2019 10:41 PM EDT
A haunting image that shows the danger so many are willing to face to try and enter the U.S., has gone viral. Now, officials are pointing blame.
Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his almost 2-year-old daughter Valeria are seen face down in south Texas’ Rio Grande. The child’s arm is still holding on to her father’s neck after they both drowned trying to cross into the country. As the bodies were taken away, Tania Ramirez, the wife can be heard sobbing.
Oscar’s mother, who is in El Salvador, broke down when she heard the news. She said the last message she got from her son was Saturday, when he told her he loved her and to take care of herself.
The final act of desperation came after weeks of trying to seek asylum at the U.S. consulate in Mexico. But the family said they couldn’t get anyone to talk to them.
The image brought immediate comparisons to Aylan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned just outside Turkey during Europe’s refugee crisis in 2015.
President Trump reacted to the photo on Wednesday, saying “I hate it,” but quickly blamed the Democrats in Congress for not changing the asylum policy that he said has encouraged the migrant surge at the border.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer shot back. “These are not drug dealers or vagrants or criminals. They are people simply fleeing a horrible situation in their home country,” he said.
The Senate on Wednesday passed a $4.6 billion humanitarian aid package for the border after rejecting a House measure. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Mr. Trump, saying there needs to be negotiations.
The political posturing in Washington, D.C., doesn’t change the reality at the border.
“I don’t know how the government will be able to fix those systemic problems in one day’s time,” said Elora Mukherjee, an attorney who recently toured Customs and Border Protection’s facility in Clint, Texas, where hundreds of migrant children are being held.
CBP has downplayed her description of conditions being unsanitary when she visited the facility last week.
There are 117 children at the facility, which has a capacity of 106. CBP officials on Wednesday allowed reporters into the crowded facility for a guided tour. Officials showed CBS News where the children play, eat, shower and sleep. But CBS News was not allowed to speak with any of the children.
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