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| - A Syrian man confirmed that a photograph depicts his family in detention at Dulles Airport awaiting deportation.
The man did not claim his family held green cards or sought asylum, and his daughter was not handcuffed by U.S. authorities.
On 30 January 2017 the tweet embedded above began circulating across social media, purportedly depicting a five-year-old Syrian girl placed "in handcuffs" by U.S. authorities at Dulles Airport.
The version displayed above was likely the most popular Twitter version of the photograph, one that was purportedly sourced from a since-deleted tweet:
@barrytgoldberg Here's the source of the pic. pic.twitter.com/US3YFwaI4q
— BarryThomas Goldberg (@barrytgoldberg) January 30, 2017
@barrytgoldberg Sorry mate, can't find this tweet on her account. Did she delete it ? — Khushal (@Khushal) January 30, 2017
@Khushal @barrytgoldberg She temporarily deleted her account because of abuse. She reinstated the account, but deleted the original image. https://t.co/yt4w429nil
— Jeremy O'Kelley (@JeremyOkelley) January 30, 2017
Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas used the photograph to illustrate a diary entry about the barbarity of handcuffing toddlers, but he included little information about the accompanying photograph or the circumstances under which it was taken:
Not a threat, no need to handcuff, yet the people in power are monsters. It’s so patently absurd to handcuff ANY of these Muslim travelers entering the country on valid visas, residency documents (green cards), and even U.S. passports. But to do so to children is so grossly beyond the pale that no one could defend it—could they?
The Facebook page "American News X" reported that the image depicted a five-year-old girl in handcuffs at Dulles, adding that the photograph was broadcast by ABC on an unspecified date.
Eventually, Twitter user Ramez Snober (a Syrian whose location was set to "Deported from Dulles" in his proflie) stepped forward to explain the photograph and its origins.
One day before the image began circulating, Snober issued six tweets about the events leading up to the photograph. According to those tweets, Snober and his family are Syrian nationals who were attempting to vacation in the United States on B2 visitor visas, not foreign-born U.S. residents or refugees. Their visas were invalidated while they were in transit, and upon their arrival in the U.S. (at Washington Dulles International Airport) they were detained and eventually denied entry by U.S. officials:
1) I have been deported with my family from Washington Dulles Airport on Jan 28, 2017 because of our nationality and Trump's order — Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 29, 2017
2) We came to US with a valid B2 visa for vacation. Airlines said nothing while boarding. When arrived to US, border authorities said they..
— Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 29, 2017
3) …received the executive order for banning while we were on board. In the same day a federal judge ordered to not deport who have… — Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 29, 2017
4) …already arrived in US and who hold valid visas. But unfortunately they didn't apply the new order for my case.
— Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 29, 2017
5) We crossed Atlantic ocean two times within 28 hours, my wife & daughters are depressed and our planned vacation completely destroyed! — Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 29, 2017
6) Also the border authorities canceled my B2 visa that is issued 20 days ago, and did the same for the whole family. My daughter visa ?? pic.twitter.com/liqE4sasRY
— Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 29, 2017
Snober appeared surprised to discover photographs of his family's experience at Dulles Airport were circulating online:
I discovered by chance that a photo of me & my family, when we deported from Dallas airport, is published on Twitter https://t.co/OM8aduVkDV
— Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 31, 2017
My daughter Zainah is near the wall, and my older daughter Halah was setting on the wheelchair on the right of the photo (see here hand ✋) pic.twitter.com/TK39Fqcyb9 — Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 31, 2017
Snober stated that airport security agents were kind to him but expressed frustration about the sudden revocation of his family's travel visas:
The three persons from Border protection who appears in the photo were very kind & nice with us. But deporting order was horrible for us ?
— Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 31, 2017
@SkyeDawn but I want to say again that the 3 guards from border protection were kind & represent the good face of U.S. — Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 31, 2017
Most important, Snober clarified that the widely circulated image of his small daughter did not depict her in handcuffs, stating that his family's feelings and freedom, but not their hands, had been cuffed:
@amiraminiMD In fact our feelings & freedom were cuffed not our hands, that made our bodies stand unintentionally in this state. Zainah ?? pic.twitter.com/twyhx3xLHM
— Ramez Snober (@RamezSno) January 31, 2017
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