A seven-year-old Guatemalan girl who was apprehended as part of a group of 163 migrants wandering in the New Mexico desert last week died while in federal custody, according to a report published late Thursday.
The unnamed child is believed to have died from septic shock, fever, and dehydration hours after she was apprehended, U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the Washington Post.
The girl — traveling with her father and 160 other people — had crossed illegally from Mexico into the U.S. They were found just south of Lordsburg, N.M., around 10 p.m. local time on Dec. 6 and surrendered to Border Patrol agents.
The group was taken to a local Border Patrol station for processing. The southern border is comprised of nine Border Patrol sectors or regions. Each sector has several stations spread out across the region.
CBP documents indicate the girl began having seizures at 6:25 a.m. First responders who arrived to help the child found her body temperature was 105.7 degrees.
Officials told the Post the child “reportedly had not eaten or consumed water for several days.”
She was taken by helicopter to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she later went into cardiac arrest. Although she was revived, she died 24 hours later.
CBP did not immediately provide details on the girl’s death, including whether she was given food, water, or a medical exam between the time of her pick-up and when the seizures began the following morning.
Border Patrol officials have complained in recent weeks that stations are ill-equipped to handle more than a few dozen people each day.
Illegal immigration spiked last month to its highest level in two years. For the first time in U.S. history, the number of families caught illegally entering the country made up half of all illegal entrants. Roughly 25,000 of the more than 50,000 taken into custody were families.
Despite the surge in apprehensions of families, children, and single adults, border agents have not changed how they hold people. Limited room in stations and shortages in staffing have complicated agents’ ability to handle the surge.
The girl’s father is in El Paso and is expected to meet with officials at the Guatemalan consulate.
CBP is investigating the incident.
