The father of a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died while crossing into the United States has “no complaints” about the way she was treated while being detained by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, according to Guatemalan officials.
Nery Gilberto Caal said Border Patrol agents did what they could to help his daughter, Jakelin Caal Maquin, after she got sick on a bus, CNN reported.
Guatemalan Consul Tekandi Paniagua told CNN on Dec. 15 the man has “no complaints about how Border Patrol agents treated him and his daughter.”
The bus traveled from Antelope Wells Port of Entry in New Mexico to a Border Patrol station in Lordsburg, New Mexico. She died Dec. 8 in El Paso, Texas, an official said.
Caal also said he is “grateful for the many first responders that tried to save young Jakelin’s life in New Mexico and Texas,” according to his lawyers in a statement obtained by the network.
His lawyers also issued a response to reports that the girl died without eating or drinking water for several days. “Jakelin’s father took care of Jakelin, made sure she was fed and had sufficient water,” the statement said. “She had not suffered from a lack of water or food prior to approaching the border.”
The lawyers also called on the media to cease speculation on the girl’s cause of death.
“The El Paso County Officer of the Medical Examiner’s office—which conducted Jakelin’s autopsy—has made no public statement regarding her cause of death,” the lawyers added. “In fact, neither the medical examiner nor Providence Children’s Hospital have released records to Jakelin’s father. We would ask that the media and federal agencies cease further speculation about her cause of death until these documents are released to Jakelin’s family. Premature and inaccurate statements undermine the integrity of the investigation.”
Four Border Patrol agents interviewed Jakelin, her father, and the group they traveled with and looked for any signs of distress but found no signs of health issues.
Caal signed a government form saying his daughter was healthy, reported The Associated Press. The form said the girl had no illness and said, “Claims good health.”
The group was cared for at a facility at the nearby port of entry in Antelope Wells, that included access to restrooms, food, and water, according to a previous Epoch Times report.
Border Patrol officials told The Epoch Times that an EMT looked at the girl, finding that she had a 105.7 degree Fahrenheit fever. First responders then rushed her to a hospital in El Paso, using an air ambulance.
“Our agents are almost always outnumbered in the middle of the night,” a Border Patrol official told reporters last week, reported CNN. “There is no indication that it was a lack of attention that resulted in this. The questions were asked. The observations were made and there was no indication that she had any health conditions.”
Hogan Gidley, a White House spokesman, told reporters that the situation is a tragedy.
“Our hearts go out to the family and to anyone who’s suffered any type of danger and peril that they see so often when they make that trek up from the southern border,” Gidley said.
From The Epoch Times
