Fact Check: ‘Caged’ Child Photo Is Not What Immigration Advocates Claim

A photo is making the rounds on social media of a little boy stuck inside a cage and which many immigration advocates say is a depiction of how the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy is separating kids from their families. However, many people sharing the photo are unaware of its original context.

The photo gained traction on Twitter last week after journalist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas tweeted the photo with the caption: “This is what happens when a government believes people are ‘illegal.’ Kids in cages.”

Although many social media users claimed the boy in the photo was an illegal immigrant trapped in a cage by immigration authorities, the photo is actually from a June 10 anti-Trump protest staged outside of Dallas City Hall, according to the fact-checking website Snopes.

Leroy Pena, the leader of the Brown Berets’ group, told CNN the toddler was not in the cage that long and had tried to follow his older sibling who took part in the Dallas protest.

“He got confused on how to get out (of the cage) and cried when he saw his mother,” Pena said. “He was only in there about 30 seconds.”

Once Vargas found out the photo was taken out of context, he defended his posting because he wanted to make a point about Trump’s illegal immigration policies.

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