Border facilities to be reviewed after deaths of 2 minors in custody

An 8-year-old migrant girl who died Wednesday after crossing the border in South Texas fell ill with the flu during a prolonged stay in U.S. custody, according to a timeline of the incident released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and authorities did not send her to a hospital when her symptoms worsened despite knowing her delicate medical history.

The girl, identified by Honduran officials as Anadith Tanay Reyes Álvarez, was the second minor to die in U.S. government custody within a week. A 17-year-old Honduran boy died May 10 while staying at a shelter in Florida for teens and children who cross the border without parents.

The deaths have refocused attention on U.S. medical care and treatment for migrant teens and children detained by the government, while underscoring the risks at border facilities where U.S. agents and staff are strained by record numbers of illegal crossings.

In a statement, CBP said acting commissioner Troy Miller has ordered a review of medical care practices at the agency’s facilities and an assessment of all “medically fragile” individuals.

“We must ensure that medically fragile individuals receive the best possible care and spend the minimum amount of time possible in CBP custody,” Miller said.

CBP said its internal affairs division is investigating the circumstances of Reyes’ death. Under agency policy, detainees should not spend more than 72 hours in custody. However, Reyes had been held with her family for eight days at the time of her death, according to the government timeline released Sunday.

While unaccompanied minors and families with children are prioritized for faster processing under CBP policy, backups can occur when the number of migrants crossing the border soars to unmanageable levels.

As her daughter battled the flu and her condition worsened, she “cried and begged for her life” but CBP staff “didn’t do anything for her,” Reyes’ mother, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., called in a statement for information to convey “the full context of the circumstances of the death of all the children.”

“The Biden administration has a moral responsibility to act quickly to make certain this does not happen again and ensure that improvements are made to guarantee the safety and health of those seeking asylum,” the lawmaker said.