El Paso, December 17 (RHC)-- The family of a 7-year-old indigenous Guatemalan girl who died on December 8th while in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol is demanding answers.
Jakelin Caal Maquin died of shock from sepsis after she and her father were detained in a remote part of New Mexico. Border Patrol agents only brought the girl to the hospital after her body temperature spiked to over 105 degrees.
Ruben Garcia, an immigrant rights activist and director of the Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas, told reporters: “The family is seeking an objective and thorough investigation and are asking that investigators will assess this incident within nationally recognized standards for the arrest and custody of children.”
Over the weekend, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security promised to investigate the death of the little Guatemalan girl in U.S. custody.