Migrant girl, 7, dies in Border Patrol custody

A Seven-year-old girl who crossed the Us-mexico border with her father last week died after being taken into the custody of the US Border Patrol, it was confirmed yesterday.

A report said the girl died of dehydration and shock more than eight hours after she was arrested by agents near Lordsburg, New Mexico. She was from Guatemala and was travelling with a group of 163 people who approached agents to turn themselves in on December 6.

It is unknown what happened to the girl during the eight hours before she started having seizures and was flown to an El Paso hospital.

Customs and Border Protection said the girl had not eaten or consumed water in several days.

Processing 163 immigrants in one night could have posed challenges for the agency, whose detention facilities are meant to be temporary and do not usually fit that many people.

The girl’s death raises questions about whether border agents knew she was ill and whether she was fed anything or given anything to drink during the eight-plus hours she was in custody.

Immigrants, lawyers and activists have long raised issues with the conditions of Border Patrol holding cells.