Seven-year-old Guatemalan girl dies of dehydration after being arrested by US Border Patrol

Child fleeing abusive home in Guatemala with father when detained

US Border Patrol agents detained the girl just eight hours before she began having seizures and then died (AFP/Getty Images)

A seven-year-old girl who crossed the United States’s southern border died after being taken into the custody of the Border Patrol.

The unnamed child started having seizures just eight hours after she was arrested by border agents in New Mexico last Thursday, after entering the country with her father at an illegal crossing. She later died from dehydration, septic shock and fever.

In a statement, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said emergency medics who responded to the seizures decided to fly her to a hospital in El Paso, Texas.

She had a temperature of 41 degrees and had not eaten or drunk anything for several days, the agency said.

When she arrived at Providence Children’s Hospital in El Paso she went into cardiac arrest and, although doctors revived her, she died the next day.

“Our sincerest condolences go out to the family of the child,” CBP spokesman Andrew Meehan told The Washington Post.

“Border Patrol agents took every possible step to save the child’s life under the most trying of circumstances.

“As fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, we empathise with the loss of any child.”

The girl, who was from the central American nation of Guatemala, was travelling with her father when she crossed the US-Mexico border in a group of 163 people.

After entering the US, the group approached border agents and handed themselves in to request asylum.

CBP said the seven-year-old’s bereaved father is still in El Paso and is waiting to meet with officials from the Guatemalan consulate.

The agency said it was investigating the circumstances of the death to check if any mistakes in procedure had been made. It has also ordered an autopsy on the girl.

Huge numbers of migrants and refugees from central America have been trying to cross into the US in recent months, in some places overwhelming the border agency’s ability to cope.

When the Border Patrol detains migrants they are processed at nearby facilities but normally are quickly moved to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) custody after a few days.

The Border Patrol is regularly apprehending large groups of migrants, often more than 100 people including young children, even though their holding cells were mostly designed to take a few single adults.

Even transporting migrant families is proving a challenge, as there are not enough vans with baby seats to take people to be processed away from the border.

Cynthia Pompa, advocacy manager for the ACLU Border Rights Center, said migrant deaths increased last year even as the number of border crossings has dropped overall.

“This tragedy represents the worst possible outcome when people, including children, are held in inhumane conditions.

“Lack of accountability, and a culture of cruelty within CBP have exacerbated policies that lead to migrant deaths.”

Migrants and activists have long accused the Border Patrol of detaining families in woefully inappropriate conditions.

In Tucson, Arizona, an ongoing lawsuit claims holding cells are filthy, extremely cold and lack basic necessities such as blankets.

A judge overseeing that lawsuit has ordered the agency to provide blankets and mats to sleep on and to turn over surveillance footage from inside the cells.

The seven-year-old is at least the second child to die after contact with US immigration authorities this year.

In May, a toddler called Mariee Juarez – also from Guatemala – died after being released from an ICE detention facility in Texas.

Her parents have now filed a $60m wrongful death lawsuit against ICE. Medical records show Mariee was not unwell when apprehended with her mother after illegally crossing the border to flee an abusive home in Guatemala.