Pointing the finger
Trump blames Democrats for deaths of 2 children at border
In his first public statements on the deaths of two Guatemalan children in U.S. custody, President Donald Trump claimed they were “very sick” before they reached the border and foisted responsibility for their deaths on Democrats, yet both young migrants passed initial health screenings by Border Patrol. While Trump and Democrats traded barbs over immigration policy, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was visiting medical officials and Border Patrol agents at the southern border in Arizona and Texas, promising additional wellness screenings for migrant children. Trump, whose administration has faced widespread criticism over the deaths, pointed on Twitter at Democrats “and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally.” Trump’s accusations came as the partial government shutdown wore on with no sign of ending over funding for sections of a border wall. Most Homeland Security employees, including Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, are among those federal employees required to report for work without pay.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said last week that prior to this month, no child had died in their custody in more than a decade.
On Sunday McAleenan called for a “multifaceted solution” to the immigration crisis, including not only better border security and new immigration laws but providing more aid to the Central American countries from which many of the migrants have fled. This is at odds with a recent tweet from Trump threatening to cut off aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
“The State Department’s announcement of an unprecedented increase in aid, I think, is a tremendous step forward,” McAleenan said on ABC’s “This Week.” ”There are green shoots of progress both on security and the economic front in Central America. We need to foster that and help improve the opportunities to stay at home.“
In Guatemala, the mother of 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo, who died Christmas Eve, told The Associated Press that her son was healthy when he left with his father on their journey hoping to migrate to the U.S.
“When he called me, he told me he was fine. He told me not to worry because he was fine,” Catarina Alonzo said from the family’s home in the remote village of Yalambojoch, her stepdaughter Catarina Gomez translating her indigenous language Chuj into Spanish.
Catarina Alonzo said the last time she spoke with Felipe he was in Mexico at the U.S. border and said he was eating chicken. Their village is in Nenton municipality in Huehuetenango province, about 250 miles (400 kilometres) west of Guatemala City.
The other child, 7-year-old Jakelin Caal, died Dec. 8 in El Paso. She showed signs of sepsis shock, a potentially fatal condition brought on by infection, officials said.
An initial screening of Jakelin “revealed no evidence of health issues,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Dec. 14.