El Paso, Texas – An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died in government custody early Tuesday, U.S. immigration authorities said, marking the second death of an immigrant child in detention this month.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release that the boy died shortly after midnight Tuesday.
The boy showed “signs of potential illness” Monday and was taken with his father to a hospital in Alamogordo, New Mexico, the agency said. There, he was diagnosed with a cold and a fever, was given prescriptions for amoxicillin and Ibuprofen and released Monday afternoon after being held 90 minutes for observation, the agency said.
The boy was returned to the hospital Monday evening with nausea and vomiting and died there just hours later, CBP said.
The agency said the cause of the boy’s death has not been determined and that it has notified the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general and the Guatemalan government.
CBP promised “an independent and thorough review of the circumstances.”
The border agency has not yet said when the father and son entered the United States or how long they were detained, saying only in its statement that the boy had been “previously apprehended.”
Alamogordo is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) from the U.S.-Mexico border at El Paso, Texas. Ruben Garcia, director of El Paso’s Annunciation House, said Tuesday that he had no reason to believe his shelter had served the family, but was waiting for further details about what happened.
A CBP spokesman declined to elaborate Tuesday, but said more details would be released shortly.
A 7-year-old Guatemalan girl died earlier this month after being apprehended by border agents. The body of the girl, Jakelin Caal, was returned to her family’s remote village Monday.
CBP announced new notification procedures in response to Jakelin’s death, which was not revealed until several days later.
Democratic members of Congress and immigration advocates sharply criticized CBP’s handling of the death and questioned whether border agents could have prevented it.
Human Rights orgs have reported over 70 deaths of exiles and refugees in US custody in past 2 years. Only 5,999,930 to go! Keep it up Herr Trumpf. Mass arrest, detain, abuse, tattoo, deport, kill. That’s quite a legacy you have to aspire to. MAGA= MAKE AMERIKA GENOCIDE AGAIN. (Turkey will help with our friends the Kurds, too)
I hope this makes life a living hell for the parents knowing THEY are responsible for killing THEIR kid!!!!
The US government didn’t go down to Central America to bring these people here. They came by themselves through all sorts of danger. IT’S THEIR OWN FAULT!
Hard to see how this is the govt fault. They tried to take the kid to the hospital. It was a bad flu. I think he had a better chance of surviving in the USA detention vs Guatemala.
I pay taxes to have the police run safe, secure jails. They seem to take my money and not do the job.
The news media has not provided an iota of information regarding the following:
a) What medical care (if any) did the parents of the two deceased children, provide to their children, in the months immediately preceding the long, torturous journey to the border?
b) Were they given the appropriate vaccinations?
c) What sort of food were they given? Were they kept hydrated?
d) What sort of preventive medical care was given to them, during their brief lives?
Their deaths were tragic and horrible; however, the US Government should not be blamed, for the negligence of the parents. Hashomer in this regard has gone off the deep end. I think that he should be provided with psychiatric care, immediately!