'We've seen this coming': Why migrant children are dying in Border Patrol custody

Catarina Gomez via Associated Press

• Two young Guatemalan children died in Border Patrol custody in December, prompting an uproar over the conditions of the facilities in which migrants are held.
• Experts and advocates have decried the Border Patrol stations known as "hieleras," which migrants have alleged are freezing cold, with inedible food, undrinkable water, and open toilets.
• But the Trump administration has said the uptick in the number of families with young children that have been crossing the border recently are the main driver, acknowledging that the government facilities weren't built to shelter sick children.

The deaths of two migrant children in Border Patrol custody this month have triggered an uproar over the US government's practice of detaining young children after they cross the border and the alleged lack of medical care they receive in custody.

But advocates say the problem began long before President Donald Trump — and that the recent deaths in Border Patrol custody have been years in the making.

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See Also:

• Border Patrol is getting help from the Coast Guard, Pentagon, and CDC for migrant children in custody, after an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died
• The 8-year-old migrant boy who died on Christmas Eve was held in US custody for nearly a week — against Border Patrol's own rules
• An 8-year-old Guatemalan child died on Christmas Eve while in Border Patrol custody, agency says

SEE ALSO: Trump threatens to close the border over a new caravan forming in Honduras that reportedly isn't even headed for the US

from Business Insider https://read.bi/2EQUPP4