Child Migrant Who Died in C.B.P. Custody Was Seen by Medical Staff 11 Times
The News
An 8-year-old girl who died after being held for a week in Customs and Border Protection custody last month was seen by medical professionals 11 times before she was taken to a hospital, according to new details provided by the agency, which is conducting an internal investigation.
While the investigation is continuing, the initial findings suggest that the child, Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez, a Panamanian national, was not provided proper medical care while she was in government custody. On Thursday, the agency’s acting commissioner, Troy Miller, said that “several medical providers involved in this incident have now been prohibited from working in C.B.P. facilities.”
Why It Matters: Overcrowding has been a concern at border facilities.
By Customs and Border Protection’s own standards, Anadith and her family should not have been held in custody for more than three days. But border facilities were significantly overcrowded when the family was apprehended as part of a group of 47 migrants who crossed into Brownsville, Texas, on May 9. The family entered the United States at a time when the number of daily illegal crossings had reached record levels, which Biden administration officials had long predicted could lead to dangerous and potentially inhumane conditions in overcrowded border facilities.
Background: The girl’s health history was ignored.
Anadith had suffered from a heart condition since birth and had sickle cell anemia. Her family provided her health history to medical personnel when they were booked into Border Patrol custody in Donna, Texas. But none of the medical personnel she interacted with at a facility where her family was transferred acknowledged being aware of her health history, internal investigators found.
Source: The New York Times
