Global Courant 2023-05-22 08:14:10
HARLINGEN, Texas — An 8-year-old girl who passed away In Border Patrol custody last week, seen by medical personnel at least three times on the day of her death — she complained of vomiting, abdominal pain and later had what appeared to be a seizure — before being taken to a hospital, U.S. immigration officials said Sunday.
The girl’s mother had previously said officers had repeatedly ignored her pleas to hospitalize her medically frail daughter, who had a history of heart problems and sick cell anemia. Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez, whose parents are Honduran, was born in Panama with a congenital heart condition.
Anadith Reyes.Thanks to Lorna Santos
“She cried and begged for her life, and they ignored her. They didn’t do anything for her,” Mabel Alvarez Benedicks, Anadith’s mother, had previously said.
In a statement, the US Customs and Border Protection said it was aware of the girl’s medical history when staff began treating her for the flu four days before her death on May 17.
CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement that while his agency awaits the results of an internal investigation, he has ordered several steps to be taken to ensure appropriate care for all medically vulnerable people in custody of his desk.
These actions include reviewing cases of all known medically vulnerable individuals currently in custody to ensure their time is limited and investigating medical care practices at CBP facilities to see if additional staffing is needed.
“We must ensure that medically vulnerable individuals receive the best possible care and spend as little time as possible in CBP custody,” Miller said, adding that his agency is “deeply saddened” by the girl’s “tragic death.”
Anadith’s death has raised questions about whether the border patrol handled the situation properly. It was the second infant death in two weeks in US government custody after a rush of illegal border crossings amid the expiry of the pandemic-related asylum limits known as Title 42 highly stressed reception facilities.
Anadith had first expressed complaints of abdominal pain, nasal congestion and coughing on the afternoon of May 14, according to a CBP statement. She had a temperature of 101.8 F.
After a test showed she had the flu, Anadith was given paracetamol, ibuprofen, anti-nausea medication and Tamiflu, a flu treatment, according to CBP.
The family was then transferred from a facility in Donna, Texas, to one in Harlingen, Texas.
She continued to receive Tamiflu for the next two days. She also received ibuprofen, according to the CBP.
Alvarez Benedicks had told the AP that her daughter’s health continued to deteriorate during those days and that doctors at the station refused her repeated requests for an ambulance to take the girl to a hospital.
“I felt like they didn’t believe me,” said Alvarez Benedicks.
On May 17, the girl and her mother went to the medical department of the Harlingen border patrol station at least three times, according to the CBP. On the first visit, Anadith complained of vomiting. In the second, the child complained of abdominal pain. On the third visit at 1:55 p.m., the mother “carried the girl who appeared to be having a seizure, after which data indicates that the child has become unresponsive,” the CBP said.
Medical staff began CPR before she was taken to a hospital in Harlingen, where she was pronounced dead at 2:50 p.m.
A medical examiner awaits additional examinations before determining a cause of death.
Her death came a week after a 17-year-old Honduran boy, Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, died in the custody of the US Health and Human Services Department. He was traveling alone.
