At least seven children are known to have died in immigration custody since last year, after almost a decade in which no child reportedly died while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The string of cases continue to raise questions around the conditions in which migrant children are being kept at a time when a growing number of migrants, many of them Central American parents with children, are presenting themselves at the border to seek asylum. Aside from the fact that children may have underlying health conditions, most are reaching the United States after arduous journeys during which they have had little access to clean shelter and proper provisions. Many are leaving impoverished and drought-stricken regions.
But the deaths under President Donald Trump's watch have health professionals and some advocates questioning whether the administration's immigration policies — particularly keeping minors in custody for longer periods — are contributing to more minors getting sick and dying while in custody or shortly after they are released. “Children are not like adults. They get sick more quickly and each hour of delay can be associated with serious complications, especially in cases of infectious diseases. Delays can lead to death,” Dr. Julie Linton, co-chair of the immigrant health special interest group at the American Academy of Pediatrics, told NBC News.
The most recent known case is that of Carlos Gregorio Hernández Vásquez. The teenager died in CBP custody this month after being diagnosed with the flu, an infectious disease. In December, medical examiners concluded that 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin, who also died in CBP custody, succumbed to "a rapidly progressive infection" that shut down her vital organs. CBP sent Jakelin on a 90-mile bus ride to another location after she was taken into custody, even though her father had told officials she was vomiting and feeling ill before they left.
CBP officials said last year that Jakelin waited an hour and a half to receive emergency medical care after showing symptoms. Deaths of several other migrant children were reported in just eight months following her death. “We do not need to be talking about the prolonged detention of children. It is dangerous,” Linton said. Seven months before Jakelin's death, 1-year-old Mariee Juarez died after being released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Yazmin Juarez and her daughter Mariee, who came seeking asylum from Guatemala. Yazmin Juarez and her daughter, Mariee, came seeking asylum from Guatemala.Courtesy Yazmin Juarez
Mariee died from complications of a respiratory illness her mother and lawyers say she allegedly developed while detained. CBP holding facilities are “basically concrete floors with mats and barbed wire fencing and bright lights 24/7,” Linton said. “That can be a very disorienting environment to children.” Leah Chavla, an international human rights lawyer and policy adviser at the Women's Refugee Commission, has worked with families who have raised many concerns over CBP facilities being “inadequate.” “Families have come with concerns about lack of hygiene, being crammed into holding cells, being served food that has not fully cooked or nutritionally appropriate for kids … being woken up throughout the night," Chavla told NBC News.
The CBP holding facilities are often referred to by the people held in them as "hieleras," which translates to icebox or cooler, because of their frigid temperatures. A Human Rights Watch report about these conditions pointed out that children were sleeping under thin Mylar blankets or foil wrappers. Wilmer Josué Ramírez Vásquez, a 2½-year-old, died this month after being detained by Border Patrol in early April and spending about a month in a hospital, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia.
Courtesy : NBC
Courtesy : NBC
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