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8-Year-Old Migrant Child From Guatemala Dies in U.S. Custody 8-Year-Old Migrant Child From Guatemala Dies in U.S. Custody
(about 5 hours later)
An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died in United States custody early Christmas Day, according to the United States Customs and Border Protection. An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died in United States custody early Christmas Day, the second death of a child in detention at the southwest border in less than three weeks, raising questions about the ability of federal agents running the crowded migrant border facilities to care for those who fall ill.
The boy died just after midnight on Tuesday at a hospital in Alamogordo, N.M., where he and his father had been taken after a Border Patrol agent saw what appeared to be signs of sickness, according to a news release from the agency. The number of migrant families and unaccompanied minors journeying over land to the United States has swelled in the last year. Migrants are usually transferred to facilities designed to hold adults after being arrested by federal authorities while attempting to enter the country illegally or after being processed at a port of entry.
The boy’s death comes just weeks after a 7-year-old girl from the same country died in Border Patrol custody. The boy, who has not been named, died just after midnight on Tuesday at a hospital in Alamogordo, N.M., where he and his father had been taken after a Border Patrol agent saw what appeared to be signs of sickness, according to United States Customs and Border Protection. His death follows that of a 7-year-old girl from the same country while also in the custody of the Border Patrol.
At first, the boy, whom the agency did not name, was thought to have a cold, but staff at the hospital later found that he also had a fever, according to the agency. He was held at the hospital for an additional 90 minutes for observation and then released on Monday afternoon with prescriptions for Amoxicillin, a commonly prescribed antibiotic, and Ibuprofen, which is often used for relieving pain and reducing fever. Much about the circumstances of the boy’s death remains unknown. It is not clear whether his condition was attributable to the care he received in the facilities, the result of an arduous journey, or some combination of the two.
On Monday night, however, the boy grew nauseated and vomited, prompting the border authorities to take him back to the hospital, the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center, where he died, according to the agency. The border facilities have absorbed more children than was ever intended when they were built, presenting challenges for those tasked with caring for migrant families.
The cause of death is not known, but an internal review will be conducted, according to the agency. It also said that it had notified the government of Guatemala. At first, the boy was thought to have a cold, but staff at the hospital, the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center, later found that he also had a fever, according to the agency.
Officials at the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for additional information related to when the boy was brought across the border, the length of his detention or where he had been held. He was held at the hospital for an additional 90 minutes for observation and then released on Monday afternoon with prescriptions for amoxicillin, a commonly prescribed antibiotic, and ibuprofen, which is often used for relieving pain and reducing fever.
On Monday night, however, the boy grew nauseated and vomited, prompting border authorities to take him back to the hospital, where he died.
The cause of death is not known, but an internal review will be conducted, according to the agency, which said it had notified the government of Guatemala. Officials at the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for additional information related to the boy’s death.
The other migrant child from Guatemala, Jakelin Caal Maquin, died this month in United States custody in New Mexico. Border Patrol said Jakelin had died from dehydration, but her father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cruz, disputed that assertion, saying he “made sure she was fed and had sufficient water.”
While details about the boy’s death are scant and there is no evidence so far that conditions in detention were the cause, the proximity of the two children’s deaths is already renewing debate about the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Medical professionals and advocates said on Tuesday that a second death of a child at the border highlighted the risks of keeping vulnerable children in what they called overcrowded, often cold facilities known as “hieleras,” Spanish for ice boxes. Children are not supposed to remain in the facilities for more than 72 hours.
“These facilities are no place for a child, even a well child,” said Marsha Griffin, a pediatrician on the Texas-Mexico border and the co-chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics’s special interest group on immigrant health.
“The conditions in which these children are being held are truly shocking,” said Dr. Griffin, who said that children who fall ill are not receiving adequate care. “It’s cold, and they are susceptible to influenza and dehydration.”
Kevin K. McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, said in July that the facilities were built in the 1980s and ’90s to temporarily house migrant adults, not families and children.
“They were built for single adults,” he said. “Think of it like a police station, like short-term detention before they’re turned over to a jail or a longer-term facility. In immigration, it’s ICE. They were not built to handle families and children.”
After being apprehended by border agents, children pass through processing facilities, some of which provide limited medical screening for scabies, lice and chickenpox, according to a report released in May 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. It said that complete medical histories and physical examinations are not conducted.
“Children should not be subjected to these facilities,” the report recommended.
Inside the facilities, detainees sleep side-by-side on mats placed on the ground. Their belongings are removed and they receive only a Mylar blanket with which to cover themselves, according to migrants who have been held in these facilities.
Audrey Stempel, a nurse who volunteered in a clinic at a respite center in Texas, where families released from the border facilities spend a night before traveling onward, said the main thing “the migrants talked about was how cold they were in these detention centers.”
“The feedback we got from migrants was that children arrived compromised and were not taken care of,” Ms. Stempel said. “Authorities were doing the absolute bare minimum. By the time the kids got to us, many of them were sick.”
She said that she treated colds, fevers, respiratory infections and other ailments, and that she had to transfer some children to a hospital.
When the harrowing trek to the border is made during the low temperatures of winter months, migrants are especially vulnerable.
“CBP strictly adheres to our national standards in regard to the conditions, including temperature control, at our temporary holding facilities,” said a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection, adding that the agency had appointed a juvenile coordinator to monitor conditions.
The Trump administration attempted to deter immigration with a “zero-tolerance” policy announced in April that called for criminally prosecuting anyone who had crossed the border illegally. Border Patrol agents arrested parents and sent their children to government-licensed shelters, but President Trump suspended the practice in June after it sparked outrage.
Since then, a record-setting crush of migrant arrivals has overwhelmed shelters and government detention facilities.
The Border Patrol apprehended 25,172 people in family units in November, compared with 7,016 the same month a year earlier. Arrests for the 2018 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, reached 107,212, exceeding the previous high of 77,857 in fiscal year 2016.
Some adults have said they travel with a child to increase their chances of being freed rather than remaining in detention for an extended time. Having fled violence in their home countries, they then request asylum.
“Minor children are being brought under treacherous circumstances because we have incentivized this,” said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a national organization that lobbies for curbing all immigration.
“Politicians who could solve the problem are not rectifying the abuse in our asylum system that is encouraging people to come under these conditions,” he added.
In a Christmas morning question-and-answer session with reporters, President Trump touted his administration’s immigration policies and demanded further funding for a border wall. While he castigated migrants, the president did not bring up the boy’s death hours earlier.In a Christmas morning question-and-answer session with reporters, President Trump touted his administration’s immigration policies and demanded further funding for a border wall. While he castigated migrants, the president did not bring up the boy’s death hours earlier.
“So you have drugs, you have human trafficking,” Mr. Trump said. “You have illegal people coming into our country. We can’t do that. We don’t know who they are.”“So you have drugs, you have human trafficking,” Mr. Trump said. “You have illegal people coming into our country. We can’t do that. We don’t know who they are.”
In a brief phone call, Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, called the death of the 8-year-old boy “very sad” and said that administration officials were still trying to get a clearer understanding of what had happened to him from the Department of Homeland Security. In a brief phone call, Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, called the death of the 8-year-old boy “very sad” and said administration officials were trying to get a clearer understanding of what had happened to him from the Department of Homeland Security.
Earlier this month, Jakelin Caal Maquin, a 7-year-old girl from Guatemala, died in United States custody in New Mexico. Border Patrol said Jakelin had died from dehydration, but her father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cruz, disputed that assertion, saying that he “made sure she was fed and had sufficient water."
Several Democratic members of Congress responded to news of the boy’s death with sharp criticism of the Trump administration’s approach to the border.Several Democratic members of Congress responded to news of the boy’s death with sharp criticism of the Trump administration’s approach to the border.
“Heartbroken and sickened by this news,” Senator Martin Heinrich, Democrat of New Mexico, said on Twitter. “I am urgently demanding more details, but the Trump administration must be held accountable for this child’s death and all the lives they have put in danger with their intentional chaos and disregard for human life.” “This is devastating news on Christmas Day — a time when so many around the world are holding their families and loved ones close — and my heart goes out to this young boy’s family,” said Senator Tom Udall, Democrat of New Mexico, calling for a full investigation.
Officials in the Homeland Security Department have struggled to answer questions about how many people have been harmed as a result of the administration’s detention policies. Last week, for example, Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security, was unable to answer a question about how many people had died in custody. Homeland Security officials have struggled to answer questions about how many people have been harmed as a result of the administration’s detention policies. Last week, Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security, was unable to answer a question about how many people had died in custody.
“I will get back to you with the number,” Ms. Nielsen said after she was pressed by lawmakers during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing.
In its statement, Customs and Border Protection said that it would follow a list of procedures that were put in place Dec. 17, just days after Jakelin’s death. Among them is notifying the news media and Congress within 24 hours of a death in custody.
Earlier this year, the administration weathered fierce criticism for zero tolerance policies that led to the separation of some 3,000 children from their parents.