Migrant girl, 7, dies in US custody after border arrest

A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Guatemalan girl died hours after being taken into custody for illegally attempting to enter the US, officials confirmed on Thursday.

The girl, named as Jackeline Caal by Guatemala’s foreign ministry, died of dehydration and shock around nine hours after being taken into US custody.

Jackeline and her father, identified as 29-year-old Nery Caal, were part of a large group of migrants who were detained by border patrol agents after they were found along a remote stretch of the Us-mexico border on Dec 6.

US news outlets quoted border officials as saying she had not had food or water for several days.

Jackeline’s death raises questions over how officials assess the welfare of migrants they take into custody.

A Border Patrol form completed shortly after Jackeline was detained said she showed no signs of sickness but the agency confirmed the girl later started experiencing fever and seizures. Her father said she began vomiting hours after being placed on a bus to a border patrol station and had stopped breathing by the time she arrived at the facility.

Medical staff revived her and she was flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she suffered cardiac arrest and died after midnight on Dec 8.

The Department of Homeland Security said: “Border Patrol agents took every possible step to save the child’s life under the most trying of circumstances.”