A Honduran woman died Monday after being taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol agents in south central Texas, marking the seventh such death since the fiscal year started in October and the second this week.
“This tragedy marks the second time in less than 36 hours that a person has died immediately following their perilous migration from their home in Central America, through Mexico and across our Southwest border,” acting CBP Commissioner John P. Sanders said in a statement late Monday. “On behalf of the men and women of CBP, we extend our deepest condolences to those who are just learning of the death of their loved one.”
Agents based in the Del Rio region encountered the woman at 6:20 a.m. CT shortly after she illegally crossed into the U.S. from the Mexican state of Coahuila through the Rio Grande, according to a statement issued late Monday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
CBP said the woman collapsed after arriving at the Eagle Pass South Station, around 6:45 a.m. CT.
“Agents and Officers quickly initiated emergency medical care until Emergency Medical Services personnel arrived at 6:55 a.m. EMS continued emergency care and transported her to a local hospital. Despite all efforts to save the 40-year-old woman’s life, hospital authorities pronounced her deceased,” the Department of Homeland Security agency said.
CBP said it is not releasing the name of the woman until her family has been notified. As protocol, DHS Office of the Inspector General and the government of Honduras have been informed, and CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility will open an investigation into the death.
A male migrant from El Salvador died Sunday afternoon shortly after he was taken into custody by Border Patrol agents in southeastern Texas.
The 33-year-old unnamed man is the fifth person to die while in the custody of CBP since the fiscal year started last October. A sixth person died after passing through Border Patrol custody earlier this year.
Deaths of those in CBP custody have received national attention since December because they represent an uptick compared to previous years when a few people died each year, according to the Southern Border Communities Coalition.
Immigrant advocates and lawmakers have criticized the Department of Homeland Security over the overcrowded conditions at CBP facilities along the southern border and inadequate medical care for those in custody. Just last week, a DHS inspector general report found 900 people were being held in a Border Patrol station in El Paso, Texas, that was suitable for only 125 people.
Border crossings have surged in recent months to the most per month in 12 years, forcing the CBP to handle numerous more cases of migrants arriving in various states of health.
A Guatemalan teenage boy died from the flu in May, two Guatemalan children died in December, a two-year-old Guatemalan toddler died a month after being released from custody, and a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy died after being transferred to Health and Human Services custody.
