translated from Spanish: Guatemala asks to clarify juvenile death in Texas

Guatemala.-The Government of Guatemala requested this Monday to clarify the facts that led to the death of a minor who was in custody of the Border Patrol. This is the fifth case of migrant children who die in similar circumstances from diciembreEl Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala said in a statement that a 16-year-old Guatemalan child died on Monday, a week after he was detained When it crossed only illegally the border of the state of Texas (south). ” The Guatemalan government mourns the death of this child, presents his condolences to the family and requests that the U.S. authorities urgently pronounce on the cause of death and deducted the responsibilities that warrants the Case, “said the communiqué. The minor, originally from the northern Department of Baja Verapaz, entered the United States “seeking family reunification”. 

Since last December, five Guatemalan minors have died after being detained and put in custody by the U.S. Border Patrol. The first case occurred on 8 December with the death of seven-year-old Jakelin Caal of the indigenous municipality of Raxruhá , who died in a U.S. hospital under federal protection after crossing the border illegally with his father. Thousands of Guatemalans and Central Americans undertake every year the risky journey to the United States in search of the “American Dream”, fleeing mainly from poverty and violence in their countries. Many migrants travel with their younger children, some hoping to be a guarantee for asylum and to be able to settle in the United States



Original source in Spanish