Medical checks ordered for all kids held in US custody after death of 2nd immigrant child this month

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has ordered medical exams for all children it holds in custody following the Christmas Eve death of an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy, the second immigrant child to die in federal detention this month.

The updated health testing marks a change in the handling of young children who are detained after entering the United States without required documentation and comes amid a partial shutdown of the federal government over President Donald Trump's demand for $5 billion to build a security wall at the nation's southern border with Mexico.

The change also comes amid what CBP and Department of Homeland Security officials on Wednesday characterized as a recent increase in the number of families or unaccompanied immigrant children apprehended or detained at the nation's borders.

In a background phone briefing with reporters Wednesday, the officials said CBP is considering options from other federal agencies to help provide increased medical assistance for young immigrants at the border.

Along with support from the U.S. Coast Guard, the assistance ultimately could add services from the Department of Defense, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The CBP update also included a timetable of events leading to the latest death. It showed that the boy, identified by the Guatemalan consul in Phoenix as Felipe Gómez Alonzo, died at 11:48 p.m. MST on Monday after being held in custody with his father, Agustín Gomez, since Dec. 18.

A CBP agent noticed that the boy "was coughing and appeared to have glossy eyes" at approximately 9 a.m. MST on Monday. Taken with his father to a hospital in Alamogordo, New Mexico, he was diagnosed with a cold and a fever, prescribed amoxicillin and Ibuprofen, and was released Monday afternoon after being held 90 minutes for observation, CBP said.

The boy was returned to the hospital Monday evening with nausea and vomiting and died there hours later, CBP said. The hospital – the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center – declined to comment on Tuesday, citing privacy regulations.

The federal officials on Wednesday declined to discuss the hospital's earlier decision to release Felipe. Such decisions are left to medical professionals and are not made by CBP, they said. The hospital also declined to comment.

“This is a tragic loss," CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in a written statement. "On behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, our deepest sympathies go out to the family."

The official cause of the boy's death had not immediately been determined, pending results of an autopsy. CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility and Office of Inspector General will conduct a review, the officials said.

Additionally, CBP has asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to seek potential causes for a recent increase in the number of migrants in U.S. border areas who require medical aid. CBP personnel have transported "dozens' of people per day to hospitals for care in recent months, the officials said.

An official headcount on the number of immigrant children in CBP custody was not immediately available. However, the officials estimated Wednesday that families with children and unaccompanied immigrant children accounted for 1,400 to 1,500 of the roughly 2,100 people who are apprehended or detained at border areas each day.

Oscar Padilla, the Guatemalan consul in Phoenix, said Felipe's father told him the two had been traveling to the United States from their home in Nentón, a village about 280 miles from Guatemala City. They planned to go to Johnson City, Tennessee. The consul identified the 47-year-old father and said he remains in U.S. Border Patrol custody.

Border patrol apprehended the father and son on Dec. 18 for illegal entry, about 3 miles west of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas. Agents detained them at that port's processing center, logging six welfare checks until Thursday when they moved them to the El Paso Border Patrol Station.

There, the agency said it logged another 17 welfare checks before transferring them to Alamogordo Station on Sunday to finalize processing because of capacity levels at El Paso.

Agents conducted several welfare checks at Alamogordo before a processing agent noticed Felipe's symptoms at 9 a.m. local time Monday. At all three places where the father and son were detained, they were given food and drinks, as well as showers or personal hygiene products at the last two stations, CBP said.

Felipe's death represents an "incredibly rare" tragedy, the federal officials said Wednesday. Although six people have died in CBP custody in 2018, there were no similar deaths by children for more than a decade before the two child deaths this month, the federal officials said.

Prompted by the tragedy, CBP on Tuesday night said it had started secondary medical checks beyond initial border screening on all children in custody. More than 95% of those children had been re-examined by paramedics, emergency medical technicians, or medical facilities near the border, the officials said on Wednesday.

More: 7-year-old Guatemalan migrant girl in Border Patrol custody dies from high fever, seizures; feds fault father

More: Body of Jakelin Caal, who died in US Border Patrol custody, arrives in Guatemala

More: Girl who died in Border Patrol custody fled impoverished Guatemala village

The new death of an immigrant boy has sparked renewed criticism of the federal government's handling of migrant children and their families.

The incoming chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, offered his condolences to the family and called for an investigation.

"The Administration’s policy of turning people away from legal ports of entry, otherwise known as metering, is putting families and children in great danger," Castro said in a statement. "With two deaths that we know about just in the last few weeks, Congress will continue to press the Department of Homeland Security until we get answers to all our questions.”

Alamogordo, where the boy died, is about 90 miles from the U.S.-Mexican border at El Paso, Texas. Ruben Garcia, director of El Paso’s Annunciation House, said Tuesday that he had no reason to believe his shelter had served the family but was waiting for further details about what happened.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., whose district along the U.S.-Mexican border includes Alamogordo, could not be reached Tuesday.

Xochitl Torres Small, a Democrat who will represent the House district starting in January, called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the children’s deaths and medical resources along the border.

She said she had not personally inspected the holding area at the CBP checkpoint between Las Cruces and Alamogordo, where Felipe was held in between hospital visits. Nonetheless, Torres Small said she worried that conditions in such facilities "could be exacerbating illnesses."

Alluding to overcrowding and hygiene, she said it is critical that CBP determine the best way to transport a sick child, how to ensure availability of medical personnel to give evaluations and how to allow people to take a shower.

The previous migrant child who died in government custody was Jakelin Caal, a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl. She died on Dec. 8 in El Paso after being apprehended by border agents.

Jakelin and her father crossed the border in New Mexico on Dec. 6, along with 161 other migrants. They were scheduled to travel by bus to the Lordsburg Border Patrol station in New Mexico when her father, Nery Gilberto Caal, told Border Patrol agents she was sick. She was transported to a children's hospital in El Paso where she died.

The White House said it had no responsibility in the "horrible, tragic" situation.

CBP, which did not notify Congress about Jakelin's death for days, said it would follow new procedures when someone dies in its custody. The protocol, including notification of federal lawmakers within 24 hours of any death, was followed after Felipe died, federal officials said Wednesday.

Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., expressed dismay over Tuesday's passing of the 8-year-old boy. In a tweet to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, CBP's parent agency, Correa wrote: “This is the second child in a month. What is going on at @DHSgov? Does @HouseHomeland have to start subpoenaing you to get the truth?”

Other Democrats responded with criticism of border policies, including Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico.

"Heartbroken and sickened by this news," Heinrich said on Twitter. "I am urgently demanding more details, but the Trump administration must be held accountable for this child’s death and all the lives they have put in danger with their intentional chaos and disregard for human life."

Several critics said the death was especially troubling given the Christmas holiday season.

"The news of another child death in CBP custody is heartbreaking," Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., tweeted. "We must demand a full and thorough account of what happened to this 8-year-old boy."

"Tragic news this Christmas Day," Rep. Nanette D. Barragán, D-Calif., remarked on Twitter. "Another death of a child in CBP custody? This is unacceptable. It is not ok that children are dying, that they are separated from their parents and don’t receive proper medical screenings and treatment. Congress must act. Real oversight coming 1/3."

Contributing: Lucas Peerman in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Dylan Taylor-Lehman, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Kristin Lam and The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Medical checks ordered for all kids held in US custody after death of 2nd immigrant child this month