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Bloomberg
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) ordered new medical testing on all children in its custody, following the death of a 8-year-old Guatemalan boy caught crossing the border near El Paso, Texas, the agency said in a statement.
The directive will mean secondary medical checks on children in the agency’s care, including unaccompanied minors and those who arrive as part of a family unit, Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said. He said the order will focus on children under 10.
The boy’s death on Christmas Eve marked the second fatality this month involving an immigrant child in federal custody. “This is a tragic loss. On behalf of US Customs and Border Protection, our deepest sympathies go out to the family,†McAleenan said.
The boy’s cause of death wasn’t known, CBP said in an earlier statement. In the updated statement, they offered new details on the boy’s final days.
According to a later time line issued by the agency, the boy was apprehended on December 18 with his father 3.29 miles west of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry near El Paso for illegal entry.
At that facility the two were given hot food, juice, snacks and water along with six welfare checks the agency said. On December 20, they were transferred to the El Paso Border Patrol Station and provided with food and water and were given 17 welfare checks through December 22, the agency said.