Another Boy Dies After Being Held at Mexico-US Border
It
is the second time this month an immigrant child has died while being detained
after crossing the US-Mexico border.
The
previous instance saw a seven-year-old girl, also from Guatemala, die hours
after being taken into custody.
US
officials said she had tried to cross the Mexico-US border illegally with her
family.
The
Guatemalan girl, who authorities there named as Jackeline Caal, died of
dehydration and shock, the Washington Post reported. Border
officials were quoted as saying she had not had food or water for several days.
Thousands of migrants
have travelled from Central America to the US border.
The
migrants say they are fleeing persecution, poverty and violence in their home
countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Many
of them say their goal is to settle in the US despite warnings by US officials
that anyone found entering the country illegally will face arrest, prosecution
and deportation.
The boy died shortly
after midnight on Christmas Day, US Customs and Border Protection said.
In
a statement, the agency said the eight year old had displayed "signs of
potential illness" on Monday.
It
reported that he and his father were taken to a hospital in Alamogordo, New
Mexico, where the boy was diagnosed with a cold and a fever, given
prescriptions for amoxicillin and ibuprofen, and released on Monday afternoon.
He
returned to the hospital on Monday evening after he began vomiting and died
there just hours later, the statement added.
The
agency said the cause of death had not been determined, and that the Department
of Homeland Security's inspector-general and the Guatemalan government had been
notified.
It's been running
high since the arrival of thousands of migrants in recent weeks.
Last
month, US border agents used tear gas on a crowd of migrants, including
children, trying to cross the border.
The
agents said that personnel had been assaulted and hit by stones.
However,
critics accused the Trump administration of a draconian response, while Mexico
demanded an investigation into the incident.
Among
them are many families with young children.
President
Donald Trump has vowed to keep each migrant on the Mexican side of the border
until courts have decided their cases, meaning some face a long wait.
They
have been spending time in temporary shelters in the Mexican border city of
Tijuana and in Mexicali, 180km to the east.
FROM .bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-
No comments