What You Need to Know About How Tear Gas Harms Kids

ProPublica reports that federal immigration enforcement agents have used tear gas and pepper spray against crowds during Trump administration immigration enforcement actions, identifying 79 children harmed since 2025—nearly four times the number in a congressional report—with many exposed in homes, cars, or while walking to school. The investigation is substantive, grounded in body camera footage, lawsuits, and interviews with over 40 victims or witnesses, though the byline is not visible in the metadata provided; ProPublica's institutional reputation as a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonprofit investigative newsroom strengthens credibility. The article documents specific harms (a high school senior with asthma unable to breathe, tear gas traveling a quarter mile into a McDonald's), compares inconsistent federal and local policies, and notes that appellate courts have vacated earlier judicial orders restricting chemical weapon use. Critical readers should monitor congressional action on pending legislation to establish uniform federal standards for law enforcement use of chemical munitions, as bills have thus far stalled in Congress despite recent lawmaker demands for reform following ProPublica's reporting.