The lawyers for the family of the 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in the custody of Customs and Border Protection called on Wednesday for a thorough and independent review into the child's death, echoing demands from members of Congress. Jakelin Caal Maquin's death deserves an "objective, thorough and independent investigation," Enrique Moreno, a lawyer for Jakelin's family, said at a news conference at Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas.
The attorneys said her death raised questions about the events leading up to it and whether it could have been prevented. The attorneys said they were demanding an investigation outside of the Department of Homeland Security's Office of the Inspector General that would include qualified health care professionals specializing in children. Moreno said the family hasn't decided whether to pursue a legal claim, and would decide if any additional information came forward from an investigation. Jakelin's father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz, also said neither he nor his daughter were given water while in custody, according to the attorneys.
This appears to contradict a statement by the Department of Homeland Security that said the migrants "had access to food, water and restrooms" while being held at the Antelope Wells port of entry in New Mexico this month. Jakelin died in a Texas hospital on Dec. She and her father were apprehended along with a group of migrants and taken to a covered area within the Bounds Forward Operating Base, according to DHS. Jakelin and her father waited for several hours for a bus to pick them up to take them to a Border Patrol station in Lordsburg, New Mexico, according to DHS.
Around 5 a. She was taken to the emergency room and then the pediatric intensive care unit, but died at a. The department said the initial indication from the hospital was that Jakelin died of septic shock. There were also no medically-trained personnel at the Bounds Forward Operating Base on the night Jakelin and her father were apprehended, according to CBP.
The agency has said that due to the remoteness of the location, transporting Jakelin by bus to the Lordsburg facility once her father reported she was sick was the quickest way to get the child medical help. Hear death has drawn outrage and led to calls for an independent investigation and for the head of CBP to resign.
