Warning: Graphic images
Devastating photos taken on Monday showing a man and his young daughter lying face down in the muddy water along the banks of the Rio Grande have gone viral with many calling the images America’s most harrowing to date.
26-year-old Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez was found with his 23-month-old daughter, Valeria, whose arms were still across her father’s neck. The pair died while attempting to cross the border from Mexico to the US.
The family had travelled more than 1,600 kms when they arrived at an international bridge in Matamoros, Mexico on Sunday and were turned away as the bridge was closed. They were told to come back the next day, but after realising the process may take months, attemped to cross the river themselves.
According to the Washington Post, Ramírez, his wife Vanessa Ávalos and their daugther were crossing the river when Ávalos noticed a rough current and turned back.
The image underlines the dangers migrants face in their attempts to escape violence, corruption and poverty at home after the Trump administration tightened the US’ asylum system. Now migrants are forced to wait months before the process starts, meaning those in desperate need will try other measures to enter the country, The Guardian reports.
