The Trump administration admitted Wednesday that a 10-year-old girl from El Salvador died in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services last September, making her at least the sixth child to die in recent months after crossing into the United States from Mexico. The Office of Refugee Resettlement described the girl—who was not named—as “medically fragile” and said she died of fever and respiratory distress in an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital. Wednesday’s disclosure drew protests from Democratic lawmakers, who accused the Trump administration of covering up the death for eight months. Five other children—all of them from Guatemala—have died in U.S. custody or shortly after being released recently. Before last year, no child died in immigration custody in over a decade.
Trump Administration Says Sixth Migrant Child Died After Crossing Border
HeadlineMay 23, 2019