The Photo of the Year is Separated by ICE by Carol Guzy, ZUMA Press, iWitness, for Miami Herald. It shows distraught children clinging to their father, Luis, as ICE detains him after an immigration hearing at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City on Aug. 26, 2025. Luis was the sole breadwinner for his family.
The photograph was made inside one of the few U.S. federal buildings where photographers were granted access — a single hallway where Guzy and other visual journalists came back day after day to document detainments and their consequences. It captures a harrowing moment of family separation at a courthouse built for justice.
Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo, said: “This image shows the inconsolable grief of children losing their father in a place built for justice. 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.”
Guzy, a four-time Pulitzer Prize winner, discussed the image and the larger project, Ice Arrests at New York Court, in an interview outlining why she documented the detainments and what she encountered at the courthouse.
Interview highlights
On who she photographed:
Asylum seekers were attending immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in New York. ICE began doing detainments there in significant numbers beginning the previous May. The father in the Photo of the Year was Ecuadorian and named Luis; his wife is Cocha. Their children included a seven-year-old boy and daughters about 13 and 15. When agents detained Luis, the family was inconsolable. Guzy said she does not know their current whereabouts; they never showed up at a church that had been helping detainee families.
How she captured the moment:
Guzy described chaotic scenes when detainments happen — children and spouses traumatized, families screaming amid a dense presence of ICE agents, lawyers, court observers and many photojournalists. ICE officers often wait outside courtrooms with target photographs and detain people as they exit hearings, repeatedly causing family separations. Guzy said the hallway where she photographed was one of the few places in the U.S. where photojournalists were allowed access to document these events.
What led her to document the detainments:
She was motivated by a moment at the Republican National Convention the year prior, when crowd members held signs calling for “mass deportation now,” which signaled to her that campaign promises might be acted upon. Wanting to cover immigration, she discovered this unprecedented photo access at the courthouse and began returning frequently — first for a day and then daily over months — believing it was vital for cameras to witness what was happening.
Comparing this work to covering disasters:
Guzy said covering the immigration crisis felt like “a kind of war on the streets of America” given the political divisions and the sweeping impact of new policies. She argued it is imperative for the media to put faces on those affected, to document the aftershocks on families — emotional trauma, financial hardship, and the need for therapy for children who witness detainments. She emphasized the press’s role in raising awareness and holding agencies accountable without passing judgment.
Contact with families:
Guzy said they briefly had contact with Luis’s family but lost track when the family did not arrive at a known aid church and ceased responding. She continues to follow other families long-term, including three she has documented for many months. Those families face trauma and financial instability after losing breadwinners; children often suffer nightmares and need therapy.
On the meaning of the award:
Guzy said she was surprised and pleased to receive the honor. She framed the recognition not as for herself but for the people in the pictures and everyone involved in the story. She described the choice of this image as symbolic of an evolving and pivotal story in America.
Additional context and images:
Guzy’s broader work from the courthouse includes photos of masked federal officers outside courtrooms holding target photographs, security personnel breaking down after witnessing separations, and detainees led in shackles through the Jacob Javits building’s floors. The Photo of the Year is part of that larger body of work documenting ICE arrests at New York court.
Links:
– Separated by ICE (Photo of the Year): https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo-contest/2026/Carol-Guzy-POY/1
– Ice Arrests at New York Court (Guzy’s project): https://www.worldpressphoto.org/collection/photo-contest/2026/Carol-Guzy/1
Image credit: Carol Guzy/ZUMA Press, iWitness for Miami Herald.