Guatemalan Boy Who Was Detained At The Border Dies

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A Guatemalan boy of two and a half years died on Tuesday night after being apprehended by the authorities while crossing the border with Mexico. Tekandi Paniagua, Consul of Guatemala in Del Río, Texas, confirmed Wednesday the death of the minor and reported that the boy had crossed the border accompanied by his mother.

The minor arrived in El Paso, Texas in early April and had difficulty breathing, for which he was admitted to a hospital in custody of the immigration authorities. There, he was diagnosed with pneumonia and remained until his death, as confirmed by The Washington Post.

The infant thus becomes the fourth Guatemalan boy who has died on US soil since December after being apprehended by the authorities, as confirmed by CNN.

In December, the 7-year-old girl Jakelin Caal Maquin died of sepsis within two days of being apprehended crossing the border with her father. Weeks later, the boy Felipe Gómez Alonzo, 8, died of complications from the same type of infection while in custody of the US Customs and Border Protection.

A photo of the Migrate Caravan, which left Central America in 2018:

On April 30, the boy Juan de León Gutiérrez became the third fatality when he died in a Texas hospital a few days after arriving at Casa Padre, a refugee relocation office in Brownsville. The causes of his death have not been revealed yet, however, sources assure that the boy showed signs of fatigue the day after his arrival, as confirmed by the chain.

Following these fatalities, immigration authorities launched new measures to monitor the health of minors who cross the border, including medical check-ups. However, civil rights advocates have questioned Border Patrol practices and their ability to care for those who are apprehended while in custody. For their part, spokesmen for the agency say that the wave of migrants crossing the southern border has exceeded their capabilities.