Trump reacts to photo of drowned father and daughter migrants: 'If they changed the laws you wouldn't have that'
US President Donald Trump has blamed asylum laws for the death of Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria, who drowned at the US border.
'If they changed the laws you wouldn't have that," he said to reporters on the White House lawn.
Shortly afterwards, he tweeted: "The Democrats should change the Loopholes and Asylum Laws so lives will be saved at our Southern Border. They said it was not a crisis at the Border, that it was all just “manufactured.” Now they admit that I was right - But they must do something about it. Fix the Laws NOW!"
The image of the bodies has prompted outrage across the world and highlighted the plight faced by Central American migrants hoping to claim asylum in the US.
Mr Ramirez crossed the river which separates the neighbouring countries, carrying his child, according to Mexican newspaper La Jornada.
The 25-year-old placed the girl on the US bank of the river and started to return to the other side, to fetch his wife, when his daughter jumped after him.
Mr Martinez caught hold of Valeria, but both were swept away by the current. The pair were found dead shortly afterwards.
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