Immig girl was well fed: father
The father of the family of a 7-year-old girl who died while in U.S. Border Patrol custody says his daughter had plenty of food and water in the days before being picked up by authorities — contradicting the account of U.S. officials.
Ruben Garcia, the director of Annunciation House, the El Paso, Texas, shelter where Jakelin Caal’s father has been staying since her death, said the grieving dad disputes the government’s claim that his little girl had gone without eating or drinking for days.
“She had not suffered from a lack of water or food,” Garcia said.
Nery Gilberto Caal, 29, and Jakelin were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents along with a large group of migrants on Dec. 6 near a remote port of entry south of Lordsburg, New Mexico.
The Guatemalan girl, who had celebrated her birthday just days earlier, began vomiting and later stopped breathing while being transported to a Border Patrol station. She died at a hospital in El Paso.
Customs and Border Protection said Friday that Jakelin initially appeared healthy and that an interview raised no signs of trouble. Authorities said her father spoke in Spanish to Border agents and signed a form indicating she was in good health, though a Guatemalan official said late Friday that the family’s native language was a Mayan dialect.
Lawyers who have agreed to represent the family also said the father does not speak Spanish.
A Boarder Patrol official told reporters on a conference call, “There is no indication that it was a lack of attention that resulted in this. The questions were asked. The observations were made and there was no indication that she had any health conditions.”