An unaccompanied migrant teenager who came to the United States from Honduras died in government custody in Florida this week, according to a Honduran leader and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The teen was found unconscious at a Florida shelter on Wednesday, and was rushed to hospital where life-saving measures were unsuccessful, a notification to American lawmakers said, according to Reuters. The teen had been placed at the Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services in Safety Harbor, Fla., near Tampa.
On Thursday night, Honduran Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Reina identified the 17-year-old on Twitter as Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza.
“The Government of Honduras, through the Embassy in Washington, is in contact with the family and has requested that ORR and HHS carry out an exhaustive investigation of the case to clarify this fact and, if there is any responsibility, apply the full weight of the law,” Reina wrote in Spanish. “This terrible fact underscores the importance of working together on the bilateral migration agenda on the situation of unaccompanied minors, to find solutions.”
2/2 El Gobierno de Honduras a través de la Embajada en Washington está en contacto con la familia y ha solicitado a la ORR y HHS se realice una investigación exahustiva del caso para esclarecer este hecho y de existir alguna responsabilidad se aplique todo el peso de la ley.
— Enrique Reina (@EnriqueReinaHN) May 12, 2023
HHS on Friday acknowledged the death of a migrant child in U.S. custody, but did not identify the child in its statement or provide details about how or where the child died. HHS “is deeply saddened by this tragic loss and our heart goes out to the family, with whom we are in touch,” the agency said, acknowledging the death.
The HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement Division of Health for Unaccompanied Children is reviewing the case, which is standard practice, the agency stated, and “a medical examiner investigation is underway.” According to HHS, minors relying on the federal agency “have access to health care, legal services, translation services, and mental and behavioral health counselors and are able to connect with family through a phone call in a private area at a minimum of twice a week.”
There were 8,492 unaccompanied minors in the care of HHS in early May. Nearly 30 percent were from Honduras, about 13 percent were from El Salvador, and almost half were from Guatemala.
The teen’s death is the second fatality in ORR’s history and the first during President Joe Biden’s presidency. It comes amid ongoing chaos at the Southern border.
More than 10,000 migrants were crossing the border daily this week in the lead-up to the expiration of Title 42, the pandemic-era public-health policy that allowed the administration to expel illegal immigrants to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. Title 42 expired at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration introduced sweeping changes to the asylum system, denying entry to all migrants who do not first seek asylum in a transit country or apply for protection in the U.S. using an online form before arriving at the border.
“We’ve been ready for this moment,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told MSNBC on Friday morning. “It’s going to be tough, it’s going to be a tough transition, as I’ve made clear, but we have a plan and we’re executing on it.”