A 7-year-old Guatemalan girl died of “dehydration and shock” hours after she was taken into Border Patrol custody last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed Thursday. The child, who was identified Friday by an official from the Guatemalan foreign ministry as Jackeline Caal, reportedly arrived in the U.S. with her father and a group of 163 migrants, and the two were taken into custody in New Mexico on Dec. 6. More than eight hours after being detained, Caal reportedly started having seizures and was found to have a body temperature of 105.7 degrees. A CBP statement said she had “not eaten or consumed water for several days.”
Caal was reportedly taken by helicopter to an El Paso hospital, where she died “less than 24 hours after being transported,” CBP said. The Washington Post reports that food and water are typically given to migrants taken into Border Patrol custody, but it was not clear if the girl got provisions or received a medical exam before she experienced seizures. “Our sincerest condolences go out to the family of the child,” CBP spokesman Andrew Meehan said in a statement. “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.”
Read it at The Washington Post
