8-Year-Old Guatemalan Boy Dies in U.S. Custody on Christmas, Weeks After 7-Year-Old Girl's Death

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An 8-year-old boy from Guatemala who was in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody died on Christmas, the agency announced in a news release on Tuesday.

On Monday, the boy and his father were taken to the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, after a border patrol agent observed that the boy was sick.

On Monday evening, the boy was nauseous and vomited. He returned to the medical center, where he died after midnight. The news release said that the boy’s cause of death is not known.

The death of the boy comes the same month as the death of Jakelin Caal Maquin, a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who also died in U.S. custody, according toThe New York Times.

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Jakelin and her father Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz were taken into custody on Dec. 6 after crossing the border into New Mexico. She died in the hospital on Dec. 8.

“Despite our trained EMT agents’ best efforts fighting for Jakelin’s life, and the work of the Hidalgo County and Providence Children’s Hospital medical teams treating her, we were unable to rescue her,” CBP Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan said in astatement.

Her body was returned to Guatemala on Sunday,CNNreported.

source: people.com