U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday ordered medical checks of every child in its custody after a second child died in custody Monday night.
Identified as 8-year-old Felipe Gómez Alonzo, he and his father, Agustin Gomez, had been detained by U.S. border authorities since December 18.
Accompanied by his father, the child was taken Monday afternoon to a New Mexico hospital and diagnosed with a cold. When doctors observed a fever, he was kept for 90 minutes and then released with a prescription for antibiotics and ibuprofen and taken to a holding facility. He began vomiting later around 7 p.m., and his father “declined further medical assistance” according to CBP. However, the boy was later returned to the hospital after becoming “lethargic and nauseous.” He died just before midnight on Monday.
The death earlier this month of a 7-year-old girl, Jakelin Caal Maquin, also in the agency’s custody, renewed national outrage over the current administration’s hardline immigration policies. She died in a state of serious dehydration shortly after being detained with her father along with a group of migrants who crossed the border illegally.
The second death comes just after several parts of the federal government shut down on Saturday after negotiations between Republicans and Democrats over border wall funding ground to a halt.
The CBP is “conducting secondary medical checks upon all children in CBP care and custody,” the agency said, and is “considering options for surge medical assistance” from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Coast Guard is already providing assistance.
“This is a tragic loss. On behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, our deepest sympathies go out to the family,” CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in a statement.