Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
7-Year-Old Guatemalan Girl Dies Of Dehydration And Shock After Being Taken Into Border Patrol Custody
The Washington Post: 7-Year-Old Migrant Girl Taken Into Border Patrol Custody Dies Of Dehydration, Exhaustion
A 7-year-old girl from Guatemala died of dehydration and shock after she was taken into Border Patrol custody last week for crossing from Mexico into the United States illegally with her father and a large group of migrants along a remote span of New Mexico desert, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday. The child’s death is likely to intensify scrutiny of detention conditions at Border Patrol stations and CBP facilities that are increasingly overwhelmed by large numbers of families seeking asylum in the United States. (Miroff and Moore, 12/13)
The Wall Street Journal: Guatemalan Girl Dies In U.S. Custody
The girl reportedly hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink for several days and began suffering seizures about eight hours after being taken into custody, according to Customs and Border Protection. The agency said emergency medical personnel discovered the girl had a fever of 105.3 degrees and she was flown to a hospital in El Paso. There she suffered cardiac arrest and was revived but died Saturday morning, the agency said. (Caldwell, 12/14)
The Associated Press: 7-Year-Old Immigrant Girl Dies After Border Patrol Arrest
The girl’s death raises questions about whether border agents knew she was ill and whether she was fed anything or given anything to drink during the eight-plus hours she was in custody. Immigrants, attorneys and activists have long raised issues with the conditions of Border Patrol holding cells. In Tucson, an ongoing lawsuit claims holding cells are filthy, extremely cold and lacking basic necessities such as blankets. A judge overseeing that lawsuit has ordered the agency’s Tucson Sector, which patrols much of the Arizona-Mexico border, to provide blankets and mats to sleep on and to continually turn over surveillance footage from inside the cells. (12/13)
The Hill: Government Shelters Now Housing Nearly 15K Migrant Children
Nearly 15,000 migrant children are being held at government shelters, putting the facilities nearly at capacity, NPR reported Thursday. The news outlet reported that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said its network of more than 100 shelters is 92 percent full. The influx of migrant children in recent months has prompted the department to weigh options for how to accommodate additional bodies. (Samuels, 12/13)
