26 Dec 2018; DW: The 8-year-old migrant boy was in US Border Patrol custody along with his father when he fell ill. He is the second Guatemalan child to die in custody at the border this month.
Another Central American child died during detention in the state of New Mexico, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed on Tuesday. The boy was an 8-year-old from Guatemala.
The death comes at a time when the US is undergoing a partial government shutdown, which was triggered by US President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding.
CBP, which has not been affected by the shutdown, said in a press release that the boy had died shortly after midnight and that the cause was unknown.
On Monday, the boy had shown "signs of potential illness" and was taken with his father to a hospital. There he was diagnosed with a cold and a fever. He was held under observation for 90 minutes, prescribed amoxicillin and Ibuprofen, and then released.
But by Monday evening, the 8-year-old was brought back to the hospital with nausea and vomiting. He died there just hours later, CBP said.
The boy is the second migrant child to die during under custody of US border patrol. Earlier this month, seven-year-old Jakelin Caal died of shock and dehydration during detention. She was also from Guatemala and was detained along with her father in a remote part of New Mexico.
Democratic members of the US Congress, along with immigration advocates, have sharply criticized CBP's handling of Jakelin's death and questioned whether border agents could have prevented it or called for an evacuation by air ambulance sooner.
CBP has promised "an independent and thorough review of the circumstances," of the 8-year-old boy's death. The Guatemalan foreign ministry called for an investigation "in accordance with due process."
