The death of a second Guatemalan migrant child under the custody of US authorities is an unfortunate event that, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), “lights up all the alarms about immigration policies” of US President Donald Trump.
Less than 48 hours ago, the US Border Police reported the death of an eight-year-old immigrant child, originally from Guatemala.
In less than 48 hours ago, the US Border Police reported the death of an eight-year-old immigrant child, originally from Guatemala.
He died in a hospital in New Mexico, the southern border of the United States, for reasons that are still unknown. He was arrested after crossing the US- Mexico border illegally.
José Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director , Americas Division for the Americas, Human Rights Watch , estimates that this tragic event is a consequence of the strong policies implemented by Trump: from the separation of immigrant families on the border to the the right to asylum restriction.
According to this prestigious NGO based in New York, a “credible, serious and reliable investigation” is necessary both concerning the child´s death and on the conditions in which the migrant minors are detained.
Vivanco considered that this responsibility could be assumed by the new Congress, which will be set up in January.
In a statement issued by the Office of Customs and Border Protection, the child died on Christmas Day, after midnight at the Gerald Champion Regional Hospital, in the city of Alamogordo, between New Mexico and Chihuahua desert.
He is the second Guatemalan child who dies this month under the custody of US authorities.
According to the official report, the kid was taken with his father to the Gerald Champion Regional hospital with signal of illness.
The hospital report states that the doctors determined that the child suffered from a common cold; but, when they were going to let him go, they noticed that he had a fever and they decided to retained him another 90 minutes under observation, and then he was discharged with an ibuprofen and amoxicillin prescription.
However, the child’s health got worse: he felt nauseated and vomited. Immigration agents took him back to the Gerald Champion Regional hospital, where he died shortly after midnight, on Christmas day.
Sadness has taken the stage and painfully revives the case of the 7 years old girl, Jakelin Caal Maquín, who was buried recently in her native Guatemala. She died on December 8 at a children’s hospital in El Paso (Texas) when she and his father crossed the Mexican illegally. They were part of a large group of immigrants, who tried to enter the United States through a desert area of New Mexico.
The government of Guatemala was notified of the minor death and immediately demanded the US authorities. a “clear” investigation” in accordance with due process” about o the circumstances that led to the boy ´s death whose name is still unknown.
Translated by José Espinoza
Latinx Newswire
