Second migrant child death prompts expanded U.S. medical checks
U.S. Customs and Border Protection ordered new medical testing on all children in its custody, following the death of a 8-year-old Guatemalan boy caught crossing the border near El Paso, Texas, the agency said in a statement.
The directive will mean secondary medical checks on children in the agency's care, including unaccompanied minors and those who arrive as part of a family unit, Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in the statement. He said the order will focus on children under 10.
The boy's death on Christmas Eve marked the second fatality this month involving an immigrant child in federal custody.
"This is a tragic loss. On behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, our deepest sympathies go out to the family," McAleenan said.
The boy's cause of death wasn't known, CBP said in an earlier statement. In the updated statement, they offered new details on the boy's final days.
According to a later time line issued by the agency, the boy was caught about 1 p.m. Dec. 18 with his father 3.29 miles west of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry near El Paso for illegal entry. After a detention in the field, the two were transported to the entry point at about 4:39 p.m., the agency said in its statement.
At that facility the two were given hot food, juice, snacks and water along with six welfare checks, the agency said. On Dec. 20, they were transferred to the El Paso Border Patrol Station and provided with showers, food and water and were given 17 welfare checks through Dec. 22, the agency said.
They arrived at the Alamogordo, New Mexico, border station late on Dec. 22, where they were transferred for final processing. At about 9 a.m. on Dec. 24 an agent found the child coughing with glassy eyes and he was taken to a hospital where he was prescribed antibiotics and ibuprofen. He later appeared lethargic and was returned to the hospital due to a lack of emergency medical technicians in a CBP facility and later died.
The Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General and the Guatemalan government have been notified, CBP said.
A 7-year-old girl, also from Guatemala, died earlier this month while in CBP custody.
The border patrol agency is also considering seeking "surge" medical assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard, and potentially requesting more aid from the Department of Defense, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Health and Human Services to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with supplemental medical capabilities, according to the statement.