Family of migrant girl, 7, who died in custody at US border say she was in good health

The family of a seven-year-old girl who died in Border Patrol custody dispute US officials who claim she had not been given food and water for several days before her death. Jakelin Caal Maquin died eight hours after being taken into custody as she attempted to cross the US-Mexico border with her father, who she had made the long journey from Guatemala with. She was one of a group 163 people seeking asylum who handed themselves in to patrol agents on December 6.
They were placed on a bus to the nearest Border Patrol station, but Jakelin began vomiting on the journey. She was taken to hospital in Texas but died after she stopped breathing. Border Patrol officials said agents did everything they could to save the girl but that she had not had food or water for days.
Guatemalan consul Tekandi Paniagua said Jakelin’s father, Nery Gilberto Caal Cuz, 29, told him the group they were travelling with was dropped off in Mexico about a 90-minute walk from the border. He added they had been given food and water and Jakelin appeared to be in good health as she travelled through Mexico. Questions have also been raised that Border Patrol allegedly asked her father to sign vital forms about his daughter’s health in English – a language he does not speak.
In a statement released through their lawyers, Jakelin’s family said: ‘It is unacceptable for any government agency to have persons in custody sign documents in a language that they clearly do not understand. ‘Jakelin and her father came to the US seeking something that thousands have been seeking for years – an escape from the dangerous situation in their home country. ‘This was their right under US and international law. But it is a journey that had resulted in tragedy. ‘The family is seeking an objective and thorough investigation and are asking that investigators will assess this incident within nationally recognised standards for the arrest and custody of children. ‘The family intends to assist in such an investigation into the cause and circumstances of Jakelin’s death.’ A cause of death has not yet been released.