Democrats call for answers after two children die in US immigration custody in just over two weeks

The Trump administration has claimed the deaths illustrate the dangers inherent in attempting to migrate from Central America to the US

(AP)

Democratic politicians are calling for answers after the deaths of two migrant children in just over two weeks have raised doubts about the ability of US immigration authorities to care for the thousands of minors arriving at America’s southern border.

The calls for answers follow after the death of an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy, Felipe Gomez Alonzo, died in US custody on Christmas Eve. He had suffered from a cough, vomiting, and a fever.

Just weeks earlier, a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl, Jakelin Caal, also died in US custody, on 8 December. Both causes are under investigation.

“There is a real failure here that we need to reckon with,” incoming Representative Veronica Escobar, who was elected in November to represent a distinct that includes the Texas city of El Paso, said. “We need to know how many other Jakelins and Felipes there have been”.

The two deaths have once again put the US immigration system under scrutiny during the Trump presidency, and show how overtaxed the border enforcement system is.

Authorities have refused to disclose how many children are in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But, there has been a sharp increase in the number of families with children that have arrived in the US recently.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has asked the Coast Guard to take a look at CBP’s medical programmes and practices, and has said that the agency will begin giving “more thorough” assessments of children who enter into their care. Border authorities say they have also conducted health checks on children in reaction to Felipe’s death, but have not disclosed results.

Ms Nielsen has cast the blame away from the American government, saying that the deaths are a result of “a system that prevents parents who bring their children on a dangerous illegal journey from facing consequences for their actions”.

That placement of blame on the shoulders of migrants coming to the US from poverty and violence in Central America is consistent with the Trump administration’s argument that more people should be detained in order to discourage families from trying to enter the US.

Felipe’s death followed after a week of detention in US custody, a time in which he was moved between facilities with his father. He was last held at a highway checkpoint in New Mexico after visiting the hospital earlier in the day. He then visited the hospital later that same day before dying.

Guatemalan console Oscar Padilla said that Felipe’s father, Agustin Gomez, had not seen health complications until Monday, and that they were detained by US forces on 14 December.

Jakelin’s case is somewhat similar. The 7-year-old was detained with her father in rural New Mexico at a facility that did not have running water, according to Democratic politicians who visited the site after her death.

CBP regulations limit the amount of time the agency can detain people to 72 hours before they are supposed to hand individuals over to agencies equipped and responsible for long-term detention.

Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat who sits on a key subcommittee overseeing border funding, has criticised the Trump administration’s push for border wall funding — which has resulted in a government shutdown since last week — over reforms to border checkpoint operations.

“They’re not set up to hold people for a long time,” Mr Cuellar said, according to the Associated Press. “There’s so much money that the wall sucks up that it’s hard to address some of the other issues. I wish the administration would understand that”.

CBP said it is reviewing all available options to relieve overcrowding in the El Paso sector, where Felipe and his father were apprehended. The agency also said it has reached out to other government agencies for “surge medical assistance.”

CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said that his agency has more than 1,500 emergency medical technicians on staff and that officers frequently take children to the hospital.

“This is an extraordinarily rare occurrence,” Mr McAleenan told “CBS This Morning”. “It’s been more than a decade since we’ve had a child pass away anywhere in a CBP process, so this is just devastating for us”.

The Associated Press contributed to this report