According to U.S. Border Patrol officials and the Department of Homeland Security, the seven-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in U.S. custody began vomiting while in transit at 5 a.m., and was revived twice before being transported to a trauma centre.
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The Associated Press recently identified the girl as Jackelin Caal and confirmed that she had been travelling with her father, 29-year-old Nery Caal.
According to reports, the girl was in custody for approximately eight hours before she began having seizures, officials from U.S. customs and border patrol said. Medical technicians discovered that Caal had a fever of 105.7 F (40.9 C).
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At the time of her death, Caal had not eaten for days, appeared to be dehydrated and was suffering from shock, officials said, though the results of the autopsy could take weeks.
In a call with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CPB), officials stated that the girl and her father were taken into custody while travelling with a group of 163 migrants. Her father confirmed to border patrol agents that she was healthy and did not have any pre-existing conditions as part of a routine screening process that takes place when migrants are arrested by Border Patrol.
While in transit to the Antelope Wells Border Crossing, the girl’s father informed agents that she had begun to vomit on the bus, at which point agents began to provide emergency medical care.
It wasn’t until after the pair were transported to another location that the father informed agents that his daughter was not breathing, and she was revived twice en route to Antelope, New Mexico. There were no medical personnel on staff upon arrival to Antelope, and so the girl was transported to the nearest trauma centre.
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There, it was determined that Caal had gone into cardiac arrest, before passing away in the presence of her father at a trauma centre on the morning of Dec. 8.
“On behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, our sincerest condolences go out to the family of the child,” said a statement from Homeland Security, the parent department of the Border Patrol.
“Border Patrol agents took every possible step to save the child’s life under the most trying of circumstances. As fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, we empathize with the loss of any child.”
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On the call, the Department of Homeland Security along with CPB confirmed that an investigation is underway to determine whether border patrol agents followed all policies.
While officials confirmed that due to the conditions, “unfortunately aliens do die in the desert,” they add that saving the lives of migrant children is a priority for border patrol agents and that over 4,000 rescues were performed by agents over the course of 2018.
Leaders are calling for greater scrutiny to be given to child detainment centres at the U.S. border after the seven-year-old Guatemalan girl died in the custody of border patrol.
Upon the news of the girl’s death, several prominent Democrats have called for an investigation into the state of the child detainment centres at the U.S. border.
Border Protection has responded by highlighting the dangers associated with crossing the U.S. border.
“We cannot stress enough the dangers posed by traveling long distances, in crowded transportation, or In the natural elements through remote desert areas without food, water or other supplies. No one should risk injury, or even death, by crossing our border unlawfully. This is why I asked Congress on Tuesday to change our laws so that the United States is not incentivizing families to take this dangerous path,”said U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan in a statement.
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NPR reported this week that the number of children in custody at the U.S. border has reached 15,000, putting the network of federally-contracted shelters across the country near capacity. The report goes on to state that the 100 child detention centres across the U.S. are up to 92 per cent full, and that most of the migrant children housed in them are teenage boys from Central America.
The 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton commented on the migrant girl’s death on Friday morning, calling the circumstances at the border a “humanitarian crisis.”
Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler tweeted that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen would face demands for “immediate answers” before the House Judiciary Committee next week.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union’s Border Rights Center called for a “rigorous investigation into how this tragedy happened and serious reforms to prevent future deaths.”
WATCH: Death of Guatemalan girl sparks renewed debate about U.S. immigration policy
— With a file from Jesse Ferreras and the Associated Press
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