Who knows what the children were exposed to before and during the trek.
Via Fox News:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection will perform medical checks on every child in its custody following the death of an 8-year-old boy from Guatemala.
The measure was introduced amid scrutiny and criticism from politicians and other groups after the second death of an immigrant child in the agency’s care just this month, with a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl dying due to what the agency said was dehydration and hunger.
Guatemalan authorities identified Felipe Gómez Alonzo as the boy who died on Christmas Day in the CBP’s custody. He has been in custody with his father Agustin Gomez since Dec. 18.
The agency said in a statement that one of their agents saw the boy had a cough and “glossy eyes” on Monday evening, prompting him to be hospitalized on Christmas Eve. He died just after midnight.
The CBP issued a timeline leading up to the death of the child. The agency said the boy was initially taken to at a New Mexico hospital where he was diagnosed with a common cold, with a fever reaching 103 degrees Fahrenheit, and was prescribed medication.
Together with his father, the boy was then taken back to a holding facility. The border agents later had to clean the boy’s vomit, but the father “declined further medical assistance” for the boy.