TNT headline: Migrant boys home falsely portrayed

Re: “Fife facility home to children split from parents at border,” (TNT, 6/17).

We were shocked at this headline in the print edition.

Not only is the information factually incorrect, it is extremely damaging and disappointing to all of us at Pioneer Human Services that the Tribune would print this erroneous headline – especially on the front page.

Last week you immediately corrected the online headline to read: “The boys came north without parents or papers. Now they’re detained in Fife. What does their future hold?” This headline is factually correct.

Selma Carson has been serving undocumented and unaccompanied boys between the ages of 12 and 17 since 2003. At an average age of 16, the youth have been apprehended alone or with other youth, and have come to this country out of choice, force or desperation.

Their stay at Selma Carson allows them legal representation and prevents many of them from being deported back to unsafe situations in their home countries.

Yes, the news on family separation at the border is at a peak – and rightly so. But we find it inexcusable that you would incorrectly tie Selma Carson into this news to sensationalize our program to sell papers.