Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Friday said that the death of a 7-year-old girl in Border Patrol custody is “a very sad example of the dangers” to migrants.
“My heart goes out to the family for all of DHS,” Nielsen said in an appearance on Fox & Friends. “This is just a very sad example of the dangers of this journey. This family chose to cross illegally. They were about 90 miles away where we could process them. They came in such a large crowd that it took our border patrol folks a couple times to get them all. We gave immediate care, we’ll continue to look into the situation.”
It was reported Thursday that the child from Guatemala had died from dehydration and shock while in custody.
{mosads}She reportedly began having seizures eight hours after being detained, and emergency responders found that the girl “reportedly had not eaten or consumed water for several days.”
The girl was flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, but died less than 24 hours later.
It is unclear if she had received food, water or a medical exam prior to the first seizure.