A young girl died in U.S. custody this week on the U.S. southern border as the Biden administration struggles to grapple with an illegal i...
A young girl died in U.S. custody this week on the U.S. southern border as the Biden administration struggles to grapple with an illegal immigration crisis that critics say has been sparked largely by the president’s policies.
“Today, an eight-year-old girl tragically passed away while in U.S. Border Patrol custody in Harlingen, Texas,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement on Wednesday evening. “The child and her family were in custody at the Harlingen Station where she experienced a medical emergency.”
“Emergency Medical Services were called to the station and transported her to the local hospital where she was pronounced dead,” the statement added.
The statement said that the Office of Professional Responsibility has launched an investigation over the incident. Officials also alerted the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General and the Harlingen Police Department.
Harlingen is located in-between McAllen and Brownsville on the easternmost part of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The news comes after a 17-year-old minor from Honduras died in Biden administration custody last week.
Honduras Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina identified the deceased minor as Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said that staff at the facility where Reina died received an email from his cousin informing them that he had epilepsy, however, the information was missed when a case manager viewed his medical history, leaving staff unaware of the condition, according to a report from the Tampa Bay Times.
Espinoza reportedly did not tell anyone about his condition. He reportedly did not have any medication with him either, thus further keeping staff in the dark.
“He left with his medicine in April,” said his mother, Norma Saraí Espinoza Maradiaga. “He had it with him.”
He died five days after being placed in a facility by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement.
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