A 16-year-old unaccompanied migrant boy from Guatemala fell ill after he was transferred to a government shelter in Texas and later died, officials said Wednesday.
The boy crossed the border near El Paso, Texas, on April 19, and was taken to a shelter in Brownsville a day later, according to Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry.
He did not appeal ill when he was transferred to the care of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to a statement from the Administration for Children and Families, the division within HHS that cares for migrant children who cross the border alone. But the next morning, he had fever, chills and a headache and was taken to a hospital, where he was treated and released that day.
When the teen didn’t recover, he was taken to a second hospital and transferred to a children’s hospital. Guatemalan officials said he had a severe infection in his brain and had emergency surgery, but never stabilized and died Tuesday. The cause of death was under review, as was the incident. His name was not released.
The boy’s brother and Guatemalan consular officials visited him while he was hospitalized, and hospital staff frequently updated his family in Guatemala, according to Evelyn Stauffer, a spokeswoman for the Administration for Children and Families.
Source: Global News
