Global Courant
A 9-year-old migrant who entered the United States amid the scorching Arizona heat and began having seizures died after being placed on a ventilator, authorities said Friday.
Border Patrol agents assisted the child and followed his care after he was rescued on June 15 in the high Sonoran Desert near the community of Tubac, according to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The unidentified child was taken to Northwest Medical Center in Sahuarita shortly before 11 p.m. that evening, CBP said, and was under the supervision of Border Patrol agents.
The next day, he was flown by helicopter to Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, where he was diagnosed with complete organ failure and put on life support, CBP said. Officers kept watch, it said.
Nearly five hours later, the CBP said in its statement that Border Police agents had “completed administrative processing of the female migrant and her children” and had “informed medical center staff that she and her children are no longer in USBP’s custody sat”.
The medical center informed CBP that the child died on the evening of June 17, the agency said.
CBP said the child’s mother believed he had become ill from the heat. She also told officers that she and her two children had been dehydrated for about 90 minutes before calling for help, the agency said.
The woman said she and her sons crossed the border into Arizona around 2:30 a.m. on June 15. The child’s mother said her son had no pre-existing medical problems but was having seizures, and she called for help at around 9:40 p.m. according to the CBP.
A National Guard helicopter crew spotted the three at 10:01 p.m., and the crew helped Tubac’s first responders get to the ground at 10:17 p.m., it said. A Border Police officer driving an all-terrain vehicle took the child to a waiting ambulance less than 15 minutes later, the agency said.
Tubac is about 50 miles south of Tucson, where the high temperature that day was 99, said National Weather Service meteorologist Marc Singer.
Data collected by the Tucson-based nonprofit organization Humane Borders shows eight migrants have died so far this year from exposure in Arizona counties along the US-Mexico border.
The CBP did not immediately respond to a request for additional information on the timing of the migrants’ release.
CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility is reviewing the incident and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General has been notified, CBP said. The agency operates under Homeland Security and includes Border Patrol.
