Controversy Over Photo of Drowned Migrant Father and Daughter Captures Cost of Border Crisis

In a photograph receiving a great deal of attention, a toddler’s arm can be seen draped around her father’s neck as they both lie face down in the Rio Grande River.

Valeria, who was 23-months-old, and her father, Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez, drowned trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, according to the Associated Press. After trekking from El Salvador, they attempted to swim across, with tragic consequences.

In a photograph receiving a great deal of attention, a toddler’s arm can be seen draped around her father’s neck as they both lie face down in the Rio Grande River. Valeria, who was 23-months-old, and her father, Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez, drowned trying to cross the border from Mexico into the United States, according to the Associated Press. After trekking from El Salvador, they attempted to swim across, with tragic consequences.