--- title: Arizona Politician Adam Kwasman Mistakes Campers for Migrant Children description: An Arizona politician has apologized for mistaking a busload of YMCA campers, destined for summer camp, for a group of frightened migrant children who were being transported to a migrant shelter. canonical: https://time.com/2992206/adam-kwasman-arizona-migrants-campers/ author: Dan Kedmey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-16T14:54:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:01:06.438Z article:section: Politics og:title: Arizona Politician Adam Kwasman Mistakes Campers for Migrant Children og:description: An Arizona politician has apologized for mistaking a busload of YMCA campers, destined for summer camp, for a group of frightened migrant children who were being transported to a migrant shelter. og:url: https://time.com/2992206/adam-kwasman-arizona-migrants-campers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4823ebfd594f33c/69869beae53aba9a534d396c/452188792.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: Anti-Immigration Activists Protest Arrival Of Unaccompanied Central American Children To Housing Facility og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Arizona Politician Adam Kwasman Mistakes Campers for Migrant Children twitter:description: An Arizona politician has apologized for mistaking a busload of YMCA campers, destined for summer camp, for a group of frightened migrant children who were being transported to a migrant shelter. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4823ebfd594f33c/69869beae53aba9a534d396c/452188792.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Arizona Politician Mistakes Y Campers for Migrant Children > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Protesters Block Buses Of Undocumented Immigrants in California [Watch (HLS stream): Protesters Block Buses Of Undocumented Immigrants in California](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PIOOsDTq.m3u8) (1:59)  _Published 2014-07-02. Controversy turns to conflict after border patrol agents try to transport undocumented immigrants — some of them children — in California. Local outlets report the protesters managed to turn three buses carrying about 140 immigrants around._  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Jul 16, 2014 2:54 PM UTC  Adam Kwasman, a Tea Party patriot running for congress (R), has a heated discussion with an anti-immigration activist during a protest along Mt. Lemmon Road in anticipation of buses carrying illegal immigrants on July 15, 2014 in Oracle, Arizona. Adam Kwasman, a Tea Party patriot running for congress (R), has a heated discussion with an anti-immigration activist during a protest along Mt. Lemmon Road in anticipation of buses carrying illegal immigrants on July 15, 2014 in Oracle, Arizona.Sandy Huffaker—Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Jul 16, 2014 2:54 PM UTC An Arizona politician has apologized for mistaking a busload of YMCA campers destined for summer camp for a group of frightened migrant children en route to a local shelter. Local news site Azcentral [reports](http://www.azcentral.com/story/brahm-resnik/2014/07/15/arizona-politician-mistakes-campers-for-migrant-children/12701279/) that Republican congressional candidate Adam Kwasman tweeted a picture of the yellow school bus as it passed near the Rite of Passage migrant shelter in Oracle, Arizona. “This is not compassion,” he wrote in a now deleted tweet. “This is the abrogation of the rule of law.” He subsequently told a 12news reporter that he could “see the fear on their faces.” He later tweeted an [apology](https://twitter.com/AdamKwasman) after he was informed that the children were not frightened migrants, but local children bound for YMCA’s Triangle Y Ranch Camp, which [promises](http://www.tucsonymca.org/triangle/) to deliver a “magical experience” in a “safe and nurturing environment.” Kwasman also greeted the news with relief: > [](https://twitter.com/AdamKwasman/status/489117236037042176) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2992206/adam-kwasman-arizona-migrants-campers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2992206/adam-kwasman-arizona-migrants-campers/"},"headline":"Arizona Politician Mistakes Y Campers for Migrant Children","datePublished":"2014-07-16T14:54:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:01:06.438Z","description":"The Arizona state legislator said he was struck by \"the fear on their faces\"","url":"https://time.com/2992206/adam-kwasman-arizona-migrants-campers/","keywords":["Immigration"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4823ebfd594f33c/69869beae53aba9a534d396c/452188792.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte4823ebfd594f33c/69869beae53aba9a534d396c/452188792.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Anti-Immigration Activists Protest Arrival Of Unaccompanied Central American Children To Housing Facility","caption":"Anti-Immigration Activists Protest Arrival Of Unaccompanied Central American Children To Housing Facility","creditText":"Sandy Huffaker—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2992206/adam-kwasman-arizona-migrants-campers/","name":"Arizona Politician Mistakes Y Campers for Migrant Children"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Protesters Block Buses Of Undocumented Immigrants in California","description":"Controversy turns to conflict after border patrol agents try to transport undocumented immigrants — some of them children — in California. 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