Mother says U.S. agents denied medical care to 8-year-old girl who died in custody
El Paso, May 23 (RHC)-- In the U.S., more details have emerged concerning the death of an 8-year-old migrant girl from Panama in the custody of Customs and Border Protection last week.
Anadith Tanay Reyes Álvarez suffered from a congenital heart condition and sickle cell anemia, according to her family. Reyes, her parents and siblings were detained in Texas for over a week. While in custody, Reyes became sick with influenza. She later appeared to have a seizure and had difficulties breathing.
Eye-witnesses say that it wasn’t until her body went limp and she began bleeding from the mouth that border agents took her to a local hospital, where the girl was pronounced dead less than an hour after arriving.
Her mother, Mabel Álvarez, told the New York Daily News: “She cried and begged for her life and they ignored her. They didn’t do anything for her.”