Trump blames Dems for deaths of migrant kids

YUMA, Ariz. — President Trump deflected any blame from his administration for the deaths of two Guatemalan children this month in U.S. government custody as his Homeland Security chief visited Border Patrol medical officials amid promises of more thorough health screenings for migrant children.

Instead, the president, whose administration has faced widespread criticism over the deaths, pointed the finger Saturday on Twitter at Democrats “and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally.”

He also tweeted that the children were “very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol.”

The president’s comments came the same day Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was visiting Yuma to meet with medical staff at the border. Nielsen said in a statement that “the system is clearly overwhelmed and we must work together to address this humanitarian crisis.” She called on Congress to “act with urgency.”

Her office said she was briefed in El Paso, Texas, on Friday on “recently instituted secondary medical screenings and the more thorough initial health screenings of migrants.”

Nielsen’s trip came days after the death of 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo in Alamogordo, N.M. Felipe was the second Guatemalan child to die in government custody in three weeks. A 7-year-old girl, Jakelin Caal Maquin, died in El Paso this month.

Nielsen has requested medical help from other government agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard. As Nielsen made the trip to Texas, New Mexico’s Democratic senators, Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, sent her a letter Friday seeking answers about the boy’s death.

“The timeline, action and factors that led to Felipe’s death are still developing, but the information that has become public so far is alarming and demands immediate attention and investigation,” the letter says.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat whose district includes Yuma and much of the U.S.-Mexico-border, on Saturday issued a statement saying Nielsen was visiting Yuma “under the dark cloud of a Republican-induced government shutdown, the president’s threats to close the border and the tragic deaths of two children in Homeland Security custody.”

Felipe and his father, Agustin Gomez, were apprehended by border agents Dec. 18 near the Paso del Norte bridge connecting El Paso to Juarez, Mexico, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Roberto E. Rosales / Associated Press 2017 One of two Guatemalan children who died in U.S. detention was taken into custody near the Antelope Wells port of entry in New Mexico across the border from El Berrendo, Mexico.