Migrant girl, 7, dies in custody

In ‘good health,’ according to U.S. border form

WASHINGTON • A 7-yearold Guatemalan girl found with her father and dozens of other migrants along a remote stretch of the U.S.Mexico border suffered seizures and spiked a high fever in immigration custody and later died, federal officials said.

Her death raises questions about how apparent her sickness was. A Border Patrol form completed shortly after she was detained said she showed no signs of sickness. The form, obtained by The Associated Press, said she was not sweating, had no tremors or visible trauma and was mentally alert. “Claims good health,” the form reads. The girl’s father appeared to have signed the form.

But, hours later, after she was placed on a bus, she started vomiting. She was not breathing when she arrived at a Border Patrol station. Emergency medical technicians revived her and she was flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she was found to have swelling in her brain and liver failure, officials said. She later died.

An autopsy was scheduled to determine the girl’s death. The results could take weeks.

An official with Guatemala’s foreign ministry identified the girl as Jackeline Caal and her father as 29-year-old Nery Caal. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to share information.

The father was driven to El Paso and was at the hospital when she died, officials said. He is not detained.

Jackeline’s death comes as increasing numbers of children and families are making the trek north from Central America and as immigration officials are being increasingly criticized for their treatment of migrants who arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border. Homeland Security’s watchdog will review what happened in the girl’s case, federal officials said.

The pair were taken into custody at about 9:15 p.m. Dec. 6 with a group of 163 people in remote New Mexico, about 145 kilometres from the nearest Border Patrol station in Lordsburg.

The girl and her father didn’t start the journey until about 4:30 a.m. The father said the girl was vomiting on the bus. When they arrived to the Border Patrol station in Lordsburg at about 6:30 a.m. Dec. 7, she was not breathing, officials said. Emergency medical technicians discovered the girl’s fever was 105.7F, and she was airlifted to the hospital. She died a few hours later.

“This family chose to cross illegally,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said. “We’ll continue to look into the situation, but, again, I cannot stress enough how dangerous this journey (is) when migrants choose to come here illegally.”