Photo of Mexican National Guard halting crying migrant mother and child goes viral

A photo of an armed Mexican soldier halting a crying migrant mother and her child went viral on social media this week as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador tightens enforcement.

The Reuters image taken on Monday depicts a Mexican National Guard soldier carrying a firearm pointed to the ground in a dry riverbed between the Mexican city of Juárez and El Paso, Texas.

Guatemalan migrant Lety Pérez crouches in front of the soldier, crying and holding on to her young son, Anthony.{mosads}

A video of the encounter was published Wednesday by Mexico’s El Universal newspaper.

“Let me pass, I beg of you,” Pérez begged a group of soldiers, as reported by NPR. “Don’t let them send me back. I just want to give my son a better life.”

NPR reported that Mexican military stationed at the border are not allowed to apprehend migrants, but are ordered to call for an immigration agent.

The video published by the Mexican newspaper shows the mother and her child crossing the riverbed toward El Paso, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicles are seen in the distance.

The image made headlines in Mexico and quickly spread across social media platforms.

Former Mexican President Felipe Calderón shared the picture on Twitter, writing, “What a shame!”

“The government of Mexico shouldn’t have accepted this,” he wrote.

Foto del día, vía @axios: “En Ciudad Juárez, ayer, la migrante guatemalteca Lety Pérez abraza a su hijo Antonio mientras implora a un miembro de la Guardia Nacional Mexicana que los deje cruzar a Estados Unidos. (¡qué pena! el gobierno de #México no debió haber aceptado esto). https://t.co/EoR6nWUcIO

— Felipe Calderón (@FelipeCalderon) July 23, 2019

The criticism comes after the current Mexican administration announced last month it would deploy nearly 15,000 troops to its northern border to increase immigration enforcement. It has also sent thousand of troops to its southern border to try to stem the flow of migrants from Central America.

President Trump had threatened to hit Mexico with tariffs if the country did not take steps to reduce the flow of migrants into America. Under the agreement between Mexico and the U.S., Mexico has 45 days to demonstrate increased border enforcement.