Stamford photographer discusses covering immigration along U.S. border

By Erin Kayata

STAMFORD — Photographer John Moore was traveling with border patrol officers near the riverbanks in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas late one night this month when he captured what has quickly become an iconic photo of immigrant families being separated.

Moore, a Getty Images senior correspondent and senior staff reporter, goes to work each day imagining he’ll take a photo with maximum impact. He’s covered immigration for 10 years and was doing a ride-along with border patrol officers to photograph families being taken under President Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance policy.

On the night of June 12, Moore captured a moment that has been felt across the country. Border patrol stopped a group of families entering the U.S. One officer asked a mother from Honduras to place down her child while she was being searched. The moment the girl’s feet touched the ground, she began crying. That’s when Moore snapped a photo of the child — an image that was published on the front page of The New York Times and has gone viral online.