A report by the United Nations (UN) falsely blamed President Trump for the detention of 100,000 migrant children who, in fact, were held in federal immigration custody in 2015 by President Obama.
On Monday, a UN report circulated around establishment media outlets like Reuters, AFP, and NPR reported a false story that claimed Trump was currently holding about 100,000 migrant children in custody.
“More than 100,000 children are currently being held in migration-related detention in the United States, often in violation of international law, the UN said Monday,” an AFP story on the UN report stated.
NPR ran with the UN report as well, writing that the Trump administration “is still holding more than 100,000 children in migration-related detention.”
The author of the UN report, though, now admits that the migrant child detention figures are from 2015, when Obama was president.
“The author of the report has clarified that his figures do not represent the number of children currently in migration-related US detention, but the total number of children in migration-related US detention in 2015,” the AFP wrote on Twitter, noting that they would delete their false story.
AFP is withdrawing this story.
The author of the report has clarified that his figures do not represent the number of children currently in migration-related US detention, but the total number of children in migration-related US detention in 2015.
We will delete the story. https://t.co/p30UjEWl7u
— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 19, 2019
After realizing that the UN report falsely blamed Trump for Obama’s migrant child detention rate, Reuters deleted their story, writing in a post:
A Nov. 18 story headlined ‘U.S. has world’s highest rate of children in detention -U.N. study’ is withdrawn. The United Nations issued a statement on Nov. 19 saying the number was not current but was for the year 2015. No replacement story will be issued. [Emphasis added]
Multiple leading Democrats and the Democrat National Committee (DNC) ran with the UN report, blaming Trump for Obama holding 100,000 migrant children in detention in 2015:
The over 100,000 kids in immigration-related custody are kids the Trump administration has separated from their families, detained in cages, & denied basic necessities & medical care. We can't let this inhumane treatment continue at any scale. https://t.co/rYbK26Vdop
— Grace Meng (@Grace4NY) November 19, 2019
Our National Shame: The United Nations has condemned the United States for having the world’s highest rate of children in detention.#KeepFamiliesTogether #ShitholePresident https://t.co/DhWPhK92mj
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) November 19, 2019
This is a disgusting result of Trump’s family separation policies — pushed by Stephen Miller who has cited white nationalist propaganda in promoting his views.
It’s also, apparently, a violation of a U.N. treaty, the Convention on the Rights of the Child. https://t.co/vfKZShQqJn
— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) November 18, 2019
I urge each & every member of our #NY7 community to read up & speak out bc this is no mistake – this is a direct result of the Trump admin’s racist, anti-immigrant agenda. This is shameful!https://t.co/UTgu9vWB6t
— Rep. Nydia Velazquez (@NydiaVelazquez) November 18, 2019
The United States of America — the richest & most powerful country on the planet — has the world's highest rate of detained children.
Let that sink in.
Make no mistake, this is not an accident. This is a direct result of Trump's anti-immigrant agenda. https://t.co/z9HkVK9uwr
— Latino Victory (@latinovictoryus) November 18, 2019
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
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