Was Border Patrol at Fault for Eight-Year Old Immigrant Detainee’s Death?
A few weeks ago, an 8-year old tragically died in immigrant detention near the U.S./Mexico border in South Texas. Valarie Gonzalez for the Associated Press provides an update on the story. She writes that Border Patrol medical staff declined to review the file of a girl, who had a chronic heart condition and rare blood disorder, before she appeared to have a seizure and died while in custody, according to an internal investigation found:
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said the child’s parents shared the medical history with authorities on May 10, a day after the family was taken into custody.
But a nurse practitioner declined to review documents about the girl the day she died, CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility said in its initial statement Thursday on the May 17 death. The nurse practitioner reported denying three or four requests from the girl’s mother for an ambulance.
Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, whose parents are Honduran, was born in Panama with congenital heart disease.” (bold added)
“to date has determined that none of the CBP contracted medical personnel or U.S. Border Patrol personnel at Harlingen Station who interacted with the girl, or her mother, acknowledged being aware she suffered from sickle cell anemia or had a history of congenital heart disease. Contracted medical personnel did not consult with on-call physicians (including an on-call pediatrician) about the girl’s condition, symptoms, or treatment. The contracted medical personnel failed to document numerous medical encounters, emergency antipyretic interventions, and administrations of medicine. A review of CBP records revealed the camera system at Harlingen Station was flagged for repair/replacement on April 13. The outage was not reported to CBP OPR as required by H.R. 1158, Fiscal Year 2020 DHS Consolidated Appropriation. Closed circuit television recording capabilities were restored at Harlingen Station on May 23.”
KJ