The ACLU blamed a "lack of accountability and a culture of cruelty" at the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agency (CPB) for the death of a seven-year-old girl who was in immigration custody last week, calling for an in-depth investigation into the child's fate.
This tragedy represents the worst possible outcome when children are held in inhumane conditions.
We call for a rigorous investigation into how this tragedy happened and serious reforms to prevent future deaths. https://t.co/lTuwwmC3RI
— ACLU Border Rights Center (@ACLU_BRC) December 14, 2018
After crossing the U.S.-Mexico border with her father and 163 other asylum seekers, the child, whose full name was Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin, was taken into CBP custody in New Mexico on December 6. She began having seizures hours later, and was taken to a hospital after she was found to have a 105.7 degree temperature. She died 24 hours later at the hospital of dehydration and shock, according to the Washington Post. The Post reported that it wasn't clear if Jakelin had been given food and water after being taken into custody.
The ACLU called the child's death "indefensible" and urged Americans to stand firmly against the Trump administration's inhumane immigration policy, which has included the separation of thousands of children from their parents and guardians as well as prolonged detentions for families.
This is a horrific, indefensible tragedy. What’s worse is that it is far from the first death at the hands of DHS.
If this isn’t the America we want to be, now is the time to be loud about it. https://t.co/iGrtDsYUft
— ACLU (@ACLU) December 14, 2018
When the US government puts a dehydrated heat-exhausted 7 year old migrant girl in detention instead of in an ambulance, we need to inspect our collective national soul. She died. #Immigrants #protectchildren https://t.co/2XnCJUUTSE
— Heather Sher MD. (All opinions are my own) (@hshermd) December 14, 2018
As the news of Jakelin's death was reported, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provoked shock and outrage as it released a statement essentially making an example of the seven-year-old, noting that her fate should serve as a reminder that crossing the U.S. border is dangerous for refugees and suggesting that her father is to blame for her death.
DHS statement tonight on the death of a 7-year-old girl in Border Patrol custody: pic.twitter.com/FzC6VftKVe
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— Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) December 14, 2018
"This is a disgusting statement dripping with cruelty, contempt, and inhumanity," MSNBC journalist Chris Hayes said. "Everyone who worked on it should be ashamed of themselves."
The #DHS called the seven-year old girl a juvenile detainee in their statement, dehumanizing her further; deeming her life, her whole existence to be worthless, even after death. #CBP https://t.co/RiM3Y4Zy0D
— لیمه اجتماعی (@dalai_lema) December 14, 2018
On Twitter, Reveal reporter Aura Bogado, who has extensively covered the effects of the U.S. government's immigration policies on children and families, criticized much of the corporate media's coverage of Jakelin's death and shared the conditions asylum seekers face in DHS custody:
I've been reporting on hieleras, the iceboxes that people (including children) who cross the border are placed in by Border Patrol, longer than any reporter I know. And I'm really bothered about the way the death of the 7-year-old child is being reported.
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) December 14, 2018
To claim that Border Patrol regularly serve food and water to people in hieleras is a serious stretch of reality and it indicates to me you don't talk to people about hieleras and rely instead on what the administration is telling you. Hence your narrative.
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) December 14, 2018
Here's a cropped @jbmoorephoto from a hielera. This is the water people are forced to drink. It's grey and it's disgusting. It routinely makes people sick. There isn't even a place to dry your hands after you wash them. Everything is full of fecal matter. pic.twitter.com/VrdqjiBO1P
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) December 14, 2018
The food? Instant ramen for breakfast, lunch, dinner. No beds so you sleep on the floor, if you find the space. No showers. You can tell how long people have been there by the smell.
I know this because no less than 100 people have told me the same thing for more than 10 years.
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) December 14, 2018
"This young girl's death could very well have been prevented if the DHS implemented search and rescue activities along the border zone with the involvement of medical professionals," said Kathryn Hampton, a program officer for Physicians for Human Rights. "Decisions about the medical treatment needed for migrants and asylum seekers who are rescued in the desert should be made by a health professional with medical training, not by a law enforcement agent whose expertise and primary mission is focused on apprehension and arrest.
"Her death must serve as a reminder to the U.S. administration and to all those who serve within immigration and border enforcement agencies that the United States constitution states that no individual may be deprived of the right to life without due process of law. All U.S. policies and practices should aim to ensure protection of life, regardless of migratory status. At each of its borders, the U.S. government must uphold mandatory obligations to relieve imminent danger to lives and safety as a first priority."
