Time Magazine Stands by Cover Art Despite Massive Correction to Story on Family Separations at Border

Lauretta Brown | June 22, 2018 1:45 PM

Time magazine had to issue a major correction after featuring a photograph of a crying two-year-old girl on their cover and in their story about family separations at the border. It turns out the Honduran toddler was smuggled by her mother across the border and they were never separated.

However, Time is standing by their cover art featuring President Donald Trump standing over the crying little girl with the caption “Welcome to America.”

Father says little Honduran girl on Time cover was not taken from mother https://t.co/h1HMee4hZ1 pic.twitter.com/rlffqXAcJO
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) June 22, 2018

Time clarified that the little girl had not been separated from her mother at all.

Correction: The original version of this story misstated what happened to the girl in the photo after she taken from the scene. 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.

Despite the magazine’s complete mischaracterization of the photo, they are standing by their cover art.

"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," Time’s Editor in Chief Edward Felsenthal said in a statement.

“Under the policy enforced by the administration, prior to its reversal this week, those who crossed the border illegally were criminally prosecuted,” he continued, “which in turn resulted in the separation of children and parents. Our cover and our reporting capture the stakes of this moment.”