2nd migrant child in 3 weeks dies in U.S. custody, on Christmas, and Border Patrol orders medical checks
An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died in U.S. custody early Christmas Day at a hospital in Alamogordo, New Mexico, after U.S. Border Patrol agents detaining him and his father noticed the boy was ill on Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) and the Guatemalan consul in Phoenix identified the boy as Felipe Gómez Alonzo. His death follows that of 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin, who died of dehydration and shock in Border Patrol custody on Dec. 8 and was buried in her Guatemalan home town on Monday.
After Caal's death, CBP promised to report the deaths of any migrants in its custody to Congress within 24 hours, then release a public statement an hour later. CBP did not say when the boy and his father were apprehended, but Guatemala's Foreign Ministry told The Associated Press they entered the U.S. at El Paso on Dec. 18 and were transferred to the Border Patrol's small Alamogordo's station on Sunday. A CBP official tells The Washington Post that father and son were held at a checkpoint between Las Cruces and Alamogordo because of overcrowding at the El Paso holding cells.
CPB said the boy was taken to a hospital in Alamogordo on Monday after showing "signs of potential illness," was released with prescriptions for amoxicillin and ibuprofen and a diagnosis of cold and fever after 90 minutes of observation, and was sent back to the hospital on Monday night after nausea and vomiting. He died just after midnight on Tuesday, and the cause of death has not been determined. On Tuesday, the Border Patrol's El Paso sector, which had custody of both dead children, ordered emergency medical technicians to conduct medical assessments of all 700 children in its custody and send any sick or injured kids to a hospital, The Washington Post reports. It is unknown how many children were hospitalized.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
What is South Korea's 4B movement and could it take off in the West?
Under The Radar Believing Korean men 'beyond redemption' some women are swearing off them completely
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'The hard reality of an aging society'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
A brief timeline of Russia's war in Ukraine
In Depth How the Kremlin's plan for a quick conquest turned into a quagmire
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published