GIRL, 8, DIES IN BORDER PATROL CUSTODY

A girl from Panama born with heart problems died in Border Patrol custody Wednesday, the second death of a child from Latin America in U.S. government custody in two weeks.

The 8-year-old girl and her family were being held in Harlingen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, one of the busiest corridors for migrant crossings. The Border Patrol’s parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has struggled with overcrowding at its facilities, spurred by a large increase in migrants ahead of the expiration last week of a key regulation on immigration linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officials say the girl experienced “a medical emergency” and emergency medical services were called. They took her to the hospital where she was pronounced dead, the agency said. An autopsy has been ordered.

The girl’s name was Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, said Honduran Consul José Leonardo Navas, who is based in McAllen, Texas. He said she was from Panama, although her parents are from Honduras. The consul said she was traveling with her father, mother and two older siblings.

She was born with heart problems and was operated on three years ago in Panama, according to her father, who spoke with the consul.

Customs and Border Protection’s internal affairs office will investigate the girl’s death, and the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general and Harlingen police have been notified, Customs and Border Protection said.

Her death comes a week after a 17-year-old Honduran boy, Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, who was traveling alone, died in U.S. Health and Human Services Department custody.

In recent weeks the U.S. has struggled with large numbers of migrants coming to the border in expectation of the end of Title 42, a regulation that had curbed migration during the pandemic.