Family file lawsuit after Guatemalan toddler dies after being held in ICE detention centre in Texas

The mother is seeking $60 million wrongful death lawsuit against the agency

A Guatemalan family has a filed $60 million wrongful death lawsuit against Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after their toddler died six weeks after leaving US custody.

Earlier this year, Mariee Juarez and her mother Yazmin illegally crossed the US-Mexico border after fleeing an abusive situation in their Guatemalan home. Once they crossed the border, they were detained and taken to a family detention centre in Dilley, Texas.

Medical records show that the toddler was not ill when entered the detention facility, but soon contracted an respiratory infection that her mother said was inadequately treated for about two weeks. The ICE Health Services provides all of the medical care at Dilley family detention centre.

The toddler visited the detention centre’s health clinic numerous times, but medical records show that she was seen by a doctor only once. During her other visits, she only saw physician assistants and a nurse.

“Frankly, to me, it was completely irresponsible,” Ms Juarez told ABC News, referring to her daughter’s medical treatment at the detention facility. “I think they should think about the children. The children are little angels, and this is not their fault.”

Ms Yazmin and her daughter left the Dilley facility after 20 days of detention. They were released to fly to New Jersey, where Ms. Juarez’s mother lives. But according to Ms Juarez’s wrongful death filing, no medical professional examined or cleared her toddler daughter for the flight.

The toddler’s respiratory condition worsened on their flight, and she was taking to the emergency room after hours of landing. The toddler was hospitalised for six weeks until her death.

Ms Juarez’s attorneys filed an administrative wrongful death claim on November 27, seeking $60 million from the federal government.

“Mariee died because the medical care she received at the Dilley detention facility was woefully inadequate, neglectful, and substandard,” the lawsuit read.

An ICE spokesperson told ABC news that it was unable to comment on Ms Juarez’s legal claim since it is an ongoing lawsuit, but released a statement on the agency’s medical care.

“ICE takes very seriously the health, safety and welfare of those in our care,” the statement said, “including providing access to necessary and appropriate medical care.”

The toddler’s death is not an isolated incident. Human Rights Watch obtained medical records for 52 detainees who died under ICE custody since 2010, and its experts concluded that nearly half of those deaths were linked to inadequate medical care.

Dr. Mark Stern, a former medical care consultant for the Department of Homeland Security and who investigated against poor healthcare claims at ICE facilities, told ABC news that Human Rights Watch’s medical records prove that people are “needlessly dying” in a “broken system.”

“I’m not surprised that people are dying,” Mr Stern told ABC News. “It is preventable.”

Ms Juarez, however, must go on in a new country without her daughter.

“After all the ugly things I lived in Guatemala, I had so many dreams for her, so many expectations,” she said. “I think it was because they did not care. They didn’t care.”