8-year-old girl dies in Border Patrol custody in Harlingen, Texas, as agency seeks to ease overcrowding
US authorities said an 8-year-old girl died Wednesday in Border Patrol custody, a rare occurrence that comes as the agency battles overcrowding.
FILE – Migrants line up next to the border fence guarded by the Texas National Guard to enter El Paso, Texas, Wednesday, May 10, 2023. U.S. authorities say an 8-year-old girl died on Wednesday May 17. in Border Patrol custody, a rare occurrence that comes as the agency grapples with overcrowding. Border Patrol had 28,717 people in custody on May 10, the day before pandemic-related asylum restrictions expired, double from two weeks earlier, according to a court filing. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)
The Associated Press
HARLINGEN, Texas — An 8-year-old girl died Wednesday in Border Patrol custody, authorities said, a rare occurrence that comes as the agency battles overcrowding.
The child and his family were being held at a train station in Harlingen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, one of the busiest corridors for illegal crossings, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency. Border Patrol, in a statement.
The girl experienced “a medical emergency” and was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died, according to the statement, which did not reveal her nationality or provide additional information about the incident.
The Customs and Border Protection Office of Internal Affairs will investigate, and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General and Harlingen police have been notified, Miller said. sergeant. Larry Moore, a Harlingen Police Department spokesman, said he had no information about the death.
Border Patrol had 28,717 people in custody on May 10, the day before pandemic-related asylum restrictions expired, double from two weeks earlier, according to a court filing. By Sunday, the number had fallen 23% to 22,259, still unusually high.
The average time spent in police custody Sunday was 77 hours, five hours more than the maximum allowed by agency policy.
Last week, Border Patrol began releasing migrants to the United States without notice to appear in immigration court, instead ordering them to report to an immigration office within 60 days. The move frees Border Patrol agents from cumbersome processing duties, allowing them to open up space in detention facilities. A federal judge in Florida has ordered an end to quick releases.
Also last week, a 17-year-old Honduran boy traveling alone died in the custody of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
