Kamala Harris says 'it's been sort of strange' seeing meme of her waving go viral

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris told BuzzFeed News it was 'sort of strange' watching the meme of her waving and putting her hand over her heart go viral since it comes from the moment she stood outside a Miami detention center housing migrant children.

In the interview, which was conducted via text message, Harris described the scene as “heartbreaking” at the time.

“I was standing on a ladder outside the Homestead juvenile immigrant detention center outside Miami, looking over the fence, and I saw children lined up like prisoners,” Harris said. “They had been separated from their families and put in this private detention facility. It was horrible.”

Harris and other Democratic candidates, including Kirsten Gillibrand and Julián Castro, visited the Homestead facility, which at the time held over 2,000 unaccompanied minors, on June 28. They spoke to officials at the facility but were not allowed access inside.

“I sit on the Homeland Security committee and they wouldn’t let me see this facility where children are detained,” BuzzFeed quotes Harris saying over text.

The facility had come under public scrutiny for alleged poor living conditions.

According to a more recent Department of Health and Human Services fact sheet, as of Aug. 3, 2019, no unaccompanied minors are being sheltered there: “all UAC sheltered in the Homestead facility have either been reunified with an appropriate sponsor or transferred to a state-licensed facility within the [Office of Refugee Resettlement] network of care providers.”

“It was awful and I was just heartbroken to see it all. What this administration is doing is a human rights abuse,” Harris said.

Yet the meme has since been widely used to convey sarcastic and snarky reactions.

Harris’ texts came as she rode on her campaign bus in Burlington, Iowa, on her way to a health care roundtable, she said. Also revealed in the conversation: Pork Chop on a Stick at the Iowa State Fair has been her favorite part of the bus tour so far.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kamala Harris says waving meme 'strange' to see in Buzzfeed interview