According to U.S. immigration officials~, an 8-year-old girl who passed away last week in Border Patrol custody was seen by medical staff at least three different times on the day of her death. She complained of vomiting, a stomachache, and later experienced what appeared to be a seizure before being taken to a hospital.
The girl’s mother earlier told The Associated Press that she had begged agents to admit her medically frail daughter, who had a history of heart issues and sickle cell anemia, to the hospital on numerous occasions. Honduran-born Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvarez was born in Panama with congenital cardiac condition. They ignored her as she sobbed and begged for her life. The mother of Anadith, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks, previously told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday that they did nothing for Anadith.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that it was aware of the girl’s medical history when treating her for influenza four days prior to her passing on May 17. They ignored her as she sobbed and begged for her life. The mother of Anadith, Mabel Alvarez Benedicks, previously told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday that they did nothing for Anadith. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that it was aware of the girl’s medical history when treating her for influenza four days prior to her passing on May 17. Miller stated that his agency is “deeply saddened” by the girl’s “tragic death,” adding that it is “our responsibility to ensure that medically fragile individuals receive the best care and spend the least amount of time possible in CBP custody.”
With Anadith’s passing, concerns have been raised about how the Border Patrol handled the circumstance. It was the second child migrant fatality in government custody in the last two weeks after a spike in unauthorized border crossings and the expiration of Title 42-related pandemic asylum limits heavily taxed detention facilities.
Anadith had initially complained of stomach ache, nasal congestion, and a cough on the afternoon of May 14, according to a CBP statement. She was 101.8 degrees Fahrenheit (38.7 degrees Celsius) hot.
According to CBP, Anadith received acetaminophen, ibuprofen, nausea medication, and Tamiflu, a flu drug, after a test revealed she had influenza. The family was subsequently moved to a facility in Harlingen, Texas, from one in Donna, Texas. For the following two days, she received more Tamiflu treatments. Ibuprofen was also provided to her, as per CBP.said Alvarez Benedicks. During those days, her daughter’s health deteriorated rapidly, and the station’s doctors repeatedly turned down her requests for an ambulance to transport the child to the hospital. Alvarez Benedicks remarked, “I felt like they weren’t buying what I was saying.
The girl and her mother visited the medical facility at the Harlingen Border Patrol Station at least three times on May 17, according to CBP. Anadith expressed vomitting symptoms on the initial appointment. In the second, the girl’s child expressed stomach pain. At the time of the third visit, which occurred at 1:55 p.m., “the mother was carrying the girl who appeared to be having a seizure, after which records indicate the child became unresponsive,” according to CBP. Before being transported to a hospital in Harlingen, where she was later pronounced dead at 2:50 p.m., medical professionals started doing CPR on her. Before deciding the cause of death, a medical examiner is awaiting results from other tests.
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