Author: Vanessa Romo / Source: NPR.org
More than a dozen members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called for an independent investigation into the death last week of a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl in U.S. custody, saying the absence of medically trained agents and a series of “disturbing systematic failures” prevented government officials from providing adequate care for the child.
The delegation of Democratic Congress members and representatives-elect retraced Jakelin Caal Maquin’s final days, first with a tour of the Bounds Forward Operating Base in Antelope Wells, N.M., where the girl and her father were initially taken into custody, then the Lordsburg Border Patrol Station where she was treated by Emergency Medical Technicians.
“We learned today there were some very disturbing systematic failures in how the young girl’s condition was handled,” said Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
In a news conference with reporters Castro was critical of Customs and Border Protection protocols and described several instances in which he said officials could have intervened to save the child’s life, including the 94-mile bus ride between the two facilities on which there was no medically trained professional on board.
“It’s systemic failure like that that we have had a chance to uncover today,” Castro said, adding that he plans to recommend policy changes to prevent such a “tragic death” from happening again.
The little girl made the arduous journey to the U.S. from Guatemala with her father, Nery Gilberto Caal. The two were part of a group of 163 migrants who turned themselves in to Border Patrol officers on Dec. 6 — three days after her seventh birthday — and taken to the Antelope Wells port of entry.
Upon arrival, the father, who…
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