This comes as the family of a 7-year-old indigenous Guatemalan girl who died on December 8 while in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol demanded answers. Jakelin Caal Maquín 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. This is Ruben Garcia, an immigrant rights activist and director of the Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas.
Ruben Garcia: “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.”
On Friday, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security promised to investigate the death.