😢💔 The Fourth Time’s Not a Charm: Young Migrant Passes in US Custody Due to Pre-existing Disease

TL;DR; – In an unfortunate string of events, a 15-year-old migrant girl from Guatemala becomes the fourth minor to lose her life while in U.S. federal custody this year. The teen succumbed to a severe underlying disease while hospitalized at El Paso Children’s Hospital. As tragedies in immigration continue to mount, are we asking ourselves the right questions about how we handle these young lives? 🤔

Talk about your Mondays from hell! 😱 This past Monday brought with it the news of a 15-year-old Guatemalan girl passing away while under U.S. federal care. This heart-wrenching news highlights a sobering statistic – the fourth instance of a minor dying in government custody this year alone. The unidentified young girl had been battling an intense, pre-existing illness during her stay at the El Paso Children’s Hospital. Makes you think, doesn’t it? Could we be doing more to prevent these tragedies?

The teen’s case was handed over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) by the Department of Homeland Security in May. The decision for her treatment was taken “according to the mother’s wishes and aligned with the recommendations of the hospital’s health care provider team.” This seems pretty reasonable, right? Well, her condition worsened by Friday, and she tragically passed away from multi-organ failure due to the underlying disease on Monday. 😔

Now here’s where it gets super interesting. Despite the Department of Health and Human Services statement on the matter, they didn’t give up any juicy details like her name or when she had actually entered the U.S. Kinda makes you wonder why they’re being so secretive, huh? 🤔

Now, take a minute and think back to May, we had a similar case. A 17-year-old Honduran boy, Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza, kicked the bucket at a holding center in Safety Harbor, Florida. His mother said he had epilepsy but was otherwise fit as a fiddle when he embarked on his journey to the U.S. Could these cases be more connected than we realize? 🕵️‍♂️

Not long after, an 8-year-old Panamanian girl with a history of heart problems and sickle cell anemia died while in Border Patrol’s custody in Harlingen, Texas. The girl’s mother claimed agents repeatedly shrugged off her pleas to hospitalize her daughter as the child’s health declined. Now isn’t that a real punch in the gut?

And, if we rewind back to March, a “medically fragile” 4-year-old unaccompanied child from Honduras breathed his last at a hospital in Michigan. This string of heartbreaking incidents has tossed a spotlight on the abilities (or lack thereof?) of U.S. agents to tackle medical emergencies faced by migrants in their custody. 😔

So, here’s the million-dollar question: Is the U.S. equipped to deal with the medical needs of the migrants in its care? Or is this a case of tragedies swept under the bureaucratic rug? Let’s have a serious chinwag about this, shall we? 💭👇

DISCLAIMER: The content of this article does not constitute medical or immigration advice. It is intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.