Sharon Black // U.S. crimes at the border: 7-year-old Guatemalan child dies in custody - Struggle - La Lucha

22.12.18

U.S. crimes at the border: 7-year-old Guatemalan child dies in custody - Struggle - La Lucha: Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maqu�n was barely 7 years old when she died on Dec. 8 following her detention by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. She had traveled with her father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz, some 2,000 miles from Alta Verapaz, a rural Indigenous community in Guatemala, to seek asylum in the U.S.

A full, independent investigation has yet to be conducted. What we do know from her father’s statement to the media is that Jakelin had eaten and had water prior to being taken into custody by the Border Patrol. She and her father were among a group of 161 asylum seekers detained at Antelope Wells, in a remote area of the New Mexico desert.

Both were first detained at the Bounds Forward Operating Base, one of 17 military bases recently constructed in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. The purpose of these outposts is to catch people, including children. They are not staffed to respond to medical crises even though they deal with large numbers of refugees and migrants in a harsh environment.