The death of a migrant woman in US custody could have been prevented

The death of a migrant girl last May who was in the custody of immigration authorities NOW it was preventable and the result of “a series of failures,” a report by the appointed watchdog overseeing the implementation of a legal agreement to care for migrant children in the US found on Tuesday.

A report by federal court-appointed monitor Paul H. Wise confirms that there was “series of failures” from Customs and border protection (CBP, for the acronym in English) and its contractors in the death of Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez, 8, who suffered from anemia and heart diseaseMay 17.

The girl was with her parents and siblings in the institution CBP Harlingen, Texaswith the intention of keeping sick migrants, where the nurses repeatedly refused to send her to the hospital even though she had a temperature higher than 40 degrees Celsius.

“Based on the information currently available, the death was a preventable tragedy,” Wise wrote in his report to the federal court in Los Angeles, which oversees the Flores Agreement, which since 1997 has required the US government to guarantee the safety of migrant minors and prohibits detaining them. in custody for more than 20 days.

The minor entered the United States with her relatives on May 9 and was sent to detention in Donna, Texas, from where she was transferred to Harlingen, Texas due to health issues.

The day the girl died, her mother took her to the doctor’s office at least three times because she had vomiting and stomach pains. Only after the girl had a seizure was her transfer to the hospital approved, where she arrived lifeless, according to the report.

“The proximate cause was poor clinical decision-making by the health care providers responsible for her care in Harlingen on the day of (the child’s) death,” Wise wrote, noting that the failures occurred at multiple levels and should not be viewed “as rare.” anomalies, but as systemic weaknesses that, if not corrected, are likely to lead to future harm to children in detention.”

Report on more than 50 pagesexamining the provision of medical services at CBP’s Donna and Harlingen centers, made a number of recommendations to reduce risks at Border Patrol facilities and improve pediatric consultations, among others.