World Press Photo of the Year Captures Family Separation at NYC Courthouse

World Press Photo has named Carol Guzy's image "Separated by ICE" as its Photo of the Year, awarding the top honor to the Miami Herald photographer whose work captures a family being torn apart by U.S. immigration enforcement.

The photograph shows Luis, an asylum seeker from Ecuador, being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents following an immigration court hearing at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City on August 26, 2025. His wife Cocha and three children — two daughters aged 13 and 15, and a 7-year-old son — are seen in the image in inconsolable grief.

"This image shows the inconsolable grief of children losing their father in a place built for justice," said Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo. "It is a stark and necessary record of family separation following the U.S. reform policies. 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 — it is a powerful example of why independent photojournalism matters."

The photograph was taken inside one of the few U.S. federal buildings where photographers were granted access — a single hallway where Guzy and other photojournalists showed up day after day to document what was happening. It is part of a larger body of work called "Ice Arrests at New York Court."

Guzy, a four-time Pulitzer Prize winner, talked to Morning Edition about the photo and the critical importance of the story worldwide.

"Asylum seekers attend their immigration court hearings, at 26 Federal Plaza in New York," Guzy said. "And ICE has been there since last May, I think, doing detainments and this particular family. The father's name was Luis from Ecuador, and his wife is named Cocha. I don't have the names of his children. He had two girls and a young boy, seven years old. And the young women were 13 and 15. And the family was inconsolable with despair when they detained their father. And I don't know what's happened to the family now. They didn't show up at a church that has been helping these families. So, they've kind of fallen off the map as far as being able to update."

Guzy described the chaotic scene that unfolds when ICE conducts detainments outside the courtrooms.

"Kids and spouses are traumatized. They're caught in the crossfire of President Trump's mass deportation effort, which has been very controversial," she said. "I've been covering detainments for many, many months and ICE agents wait outside courtrooms and they have what they call targets and they detain them as they come out of their court hearings many times causing family separations. It was one of many that I photographed since I've been there. And it's always a very chaotic scene, especially when there are families involved and there's children screaming and it's very crowded with a lot of ICE agents. So many, many photojournalists, court observers, lawyers. It's quite a chaotic scene when it happens."

The photographer said she decided to document this issue after covering the Republican National Convention the year before, where she witnessed crowd signs calling for "mass deportation now."

"I realized that Trump's campaign promise for mass deportation was probably going to be fulfilled," Guzy said. "And I had wanted to do something on immigration this year. And I noticed that there was access in this courthouse. And in fact, it's unprecedented because it's the only courthouse where they've allowed photojournalists to document. So I spent one day here, actually came to New York to cover the mermaid parade at Coney Island, because it was on my bucket list. I had never been to Coney Island, but while I was here, I went to the courthouse for one day and then six months later, I had gone there daily, you know, for that whole time, because I think it's so vitally important that the cameras are there and we have eyes on what's happening in that courthouse."

Comparing the immigration crisis to other stories she has covered around the world, Guzy said: "It's kind of a war on the streets of America right now, as far as, you know, the political divide and how many people are being affected by these new policies. And I think it's imperative for the media right now to put a face on who's being affected, who's being detained and the aftershocks that the families are dealing with. It's not our place to judge as press, but I think all these photographs certainly raise awareness and they hold agencies and individuals accountable in that courthouse and perhaps at times become a voice to amplify voices of justice."

Guzy said she remains in contact with some families she has documented, though she has lost track of Luis's family.

"We actually in contact with Luis's family. They were supposed to come to this church, that's kind of an epicenter of aid for the detainees families, but they never showed up and they didn't answer his messages. So, we've lost track of them," she said. "But there are other families I've been covering for many months now. There's three families in particular and a few others that I've been trying to follow through their struggles with the loss of their breadwinner, which not only causes emotional trauma but, you know, financial issues for all the families and the children have needed therapy. They have nightmares. They're quite traumatized by what they witnessed at the courthouse."

Reflecting on what the award means to her, Guzy said: "I think this recognition is so important because the story is so important. And to choose this particular image is symbolic of this evolving story in America at this pivotal time. And I think it's a very powerful statement that they have chosen an image from the story about what's going on in America right now."

"I was very surprised. And I was extremely pleased, of course, to hear the news," Guzy said about her reaction to winning. "I don't think the award is for me. It's for the people in the pictures and everyone who's involved in this issue right now."