Photo of migrant family separation in US scoops World Press prize
- Last updated: April 23, 2026 | 19:14
A picture of an Ecuadoran family separated when US immigration agents arrested the father following a court hearing won the 2025 World Press Photo of the Year Award on Thursday.
The photo, taken by Carol Guzy of the ZUMA Press agency and iWitness for the Miami Herald, shows the moment Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers hauled away Luis, as his family claws at his shirt to keep him back.
The jury selected the image from a larger body of photos taken by Guzy in a corridor outside a courtroom in New York where families were often separated following hearings, sparking emotional scenes.
"We bear witness to the suffering of countless families, but also to their grace and resilience that transcends adversity that has been quite humbling," Guzy said in a statement.
The jury sifted through 57,376 photographs from 3,747 photo journalists to select 45 prize-winning shots from around the world.
The winning photo, "Separated by ICE", is a "powerful example of why independent photojournalism matters," according to Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo.
"In a democracy, the camera's presence in that hallway serves as a witness to a policy that has turned courthouses into sites of shattered lives," she added in a statement.
Saber Nuraldin from EPA Images was a finalist with a shot of Palestinians swarming over an aid truck in Gaza, scrambling to get flour during a brief pause in Israel's blockade.
Victor J. Blue for the New York Times Magazine was the other finalist with his portrait of indigenous Achi women in Guatemala, who won a legal battle against paramilitary forces who committed atrocities during the country's civil war.
"Offering a powerful reflection of our world, the winners illuminate the realities we face globally; marked by fracture, urgency and yet an innate resilience," according to the World Press Photo statement.
Luis Tato, from Agence France-Presse's Nairobi bureau, won a prize in the Africa Stories category for his coverage of the 2025 "Gen Z uprisings" in Madagascar.
"Through dynamic scenes and varied views of youth-led actions, the project captures the scale of young people taking to the streets, conveying both energy and urgency," said the jury.
Agence France-Presse