ProPublica: Trump’s Deportation Campaign Has Harmed Scores of Kids With Tear Gas, Pepper Spray

ProPublica reports that Trump’s Deportation Campaign Has Harmed Scores of Kids With Tear Gas, Pepper Spray. Their coverage begins with emotional videos of kids dealing with the aftereffects of tear gas–crying, scared, and trying to breathe.

ProPublica details the stories of kids injured while walking to school as well as kids injured while simply residing within their own homes. If you're confused about the latter category, agents used tear gas against immigration protestors outside of a detention facility that is in spitting distance of residential homes.

In total, the reporters uncovered 79 children affected by immigration-enforcement chemical sprays--events they were able to verify through interviews and body camera footage, among other evidence. This is "nearly four times the number cited" by the government. Yet, ProPublica notes it is "likely still a vast undercount" given that they only included incidents where they were able to speak with "parents or others with direct knowledge" and where there were "at least two news accounts confirming the incident or identified an episode from sworn testimony."

Here is the least surprising paragraph of the article:

The Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly defended its use of the chemicals, asserting its agents aren’t to blame. The fault, a spokesperson said, lies with “agitators” in the crowds and parents who put their children in harm’s way.