Thread: Boy who died in US custody had influenza, autopsy confirms; DHS boss Nielsen plans bo

Boy who died in US custody had influenza, autopsy confirms; DHS boss Nielsen plans border-region visit

By Amy Lieu | Fox News
Published 1 hour ago

An autopsy performed on the 8-year-old Guatemalan boy who died in U.S. custody early Christmas Day shows he had influenza, New Mexico authorities said Thursday.

More tests need to be done before a cause of death can be determined for Felipe Gomez Alonzo, the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator said in a statement.

Felipe died at a New Mexico hospital after suffering coughing, vomiting and a fever, authorities said.

Immigration officials say an agent first “noticed that the child showed signs of potential illness” Monday and brought the boy and his father to the medical center, where the boy was diagnosed with a “common cold.”

Prior to the boy leaving the hospital, though, medical staff detected he had a fever. They discharged the boy in the mid-afternoon with prescriptions for amoxicillin and Ibuprofen.

But later in the evening, the child “exhibited nausea and vomiting and was transferred back” to the facility for evaluation and treatment before dying around midnight, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said.

Officials said the death remained under investigation, with the CBP promising "an independent and thorough review of the circumstances."

The boy's father had taken his son to the border after hearing rumors that parents and their children would be allowed to migrate to the U.S., the boy's stepsister said two days after the boy's death.

Felipe's death marked the second death of a migrant child under U.S. custody. A Guatemalan girl, Jakelin Caal, 7, died on Dec. 8. Both deaths are under investigation.

In response to the two migrant children's deaths, Homeland Security Secretary Kirtsjen Nielsen was planning to visit the U.S.-Mexico border region Friday and Saturday, Politico reported, citing a department spokesperson Katie Waldman.

Nielsen said this week that she'd "directed a series of extraordinary protective measures," including new medical screenings, for detained migrant children and that she would visit the border, according to the report.

Nielsen will travel Friday to El Paso, Texas, and Saturday to Yuma, Ariz., Waldman said in an email to Politico.

She will also personally review her department's care of migrant children, Bloomberg News reported.

“This tragedy, the death of a child in government custody, is deeply concerning and heartbreaking,” Nielsen in a statement, according to the report. “Moving forward, all children will receive a more thorough hands-on assessment at the earliest possible time post-apprehension -- whether or not the accompanying adult has asked for one.”

CBP ordered new medical tests on all children under its custody after the Guatemalan boy’s death, the agency said in a statement Wednesday, Bloomberg reported.

The directive will mean secondary medical checks on children under the agency’s care, including unaccompanied minors and those who arrive as part of a family unit, with the order focusing on children under 10, CPB Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said in the statement obtained by the news outlet.

“This is a tragic loss. On behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, our deepest sympathies go out to the family," McAleenan said in a statement Tuesday.

Fox News' Greg Norman and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/guatemala...a-autopsy-says

They carry infectious diseases, they are travelling in packs of dozens of people, they are infecting each other.

They are now coming by the THOUSANDS and released in our communities to infect our citizens and children!!!

CONGRESS...DO YOUR JOB AND STOP THIS INVASION!

TRUMP...DO YOUR JOB AND SHUT THE WHOLE BORDER DOWN!

TRUMP...DO YOUR JOB AND SIGN EXECUTIVE ORDER TO END BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP!

TRUMP...DO YOUR JOB AND PROSECUTE AND FIRE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES HARBORING, AIDING AND ABETTING ILLEGAL ALIENS! GET THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ON IT! NO WELFARE, NO FOOD STAMPS, NO SCHOOL!

They need to apply to come here from their country, be vetted, investigated, thorough Medical exam BEFORE they show up on our doorstep!

Process them and deport them all on buses back home within 48 hours!

Now we are footing the bill for their hospital care, autopsy, coffins, transportation back home and lawsuits for THEIR negligence!

Are these parents put in jail for child neglect? Our parents would be put in jail for this.

They were offered jobs and asylum in Mexico...they are 100% responsible for the death of their own children.

They are using these children as pawns to lie and ILLEGALLY cross our border for a "job"!

So this father exposed his child to who knows what kinds of illness by bringing him in this caravan, and now the US is on the hot seat because the child died. Sounds like the hospital misdiagnosed him too. I feel bad for the father, but this is ultimately on him. Decisions have consequences that must be considered when making the decision. Was it worth the chance that they may be let in? Apparently not this time.

Related--

Bereaved Guatemalan mother recalls hopes son would ease U.S. entry

https://www.alipac.us/f12/bereaved-g...-entry-368323/