Inspector general clears border agents of misconduct in migrant child deaths

Dec. 21 (UPI) -- There was no misconduct by Department of Homeland Security officials in December 2018 that led to the deaths of two migrant children in U.S. custody, the agency's inspector general said.

In reports released Friday, the inspector general also cleared DHS personnel of malfeasance.

The two unrelated children, aged 7 and 8, died one year ago of sepsis. The inspector general didn't identify them, but details in the report indicate they're about 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin and 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonso.

Jakelin died Dec. 8, 2018, two days after border agents apprehended her and her father in Antelope Wells, N.M. The girl's father reported the next day that she was sick with fever, vomiting and seizures at the U.S. Border Patrol facility in Lordsburg, N.M.

Officials flew Jakelin to a hospital, where she died. The state medical examiner said she died of sequelae of streptococcal sepsis.

In a separate incident, Felipe died Dec. 25, one week after border agents apprehended him and his father near El Paso, Texas. Border officials transported the pair to the Alamogordo, N.M., checkpoint on Dec. 23, and a day later his father requested medical help for the boy.

Doctors at a nearby hospital diagnosed Felipe with an upper respiratory infection, prescribed him antibiotics and acetaminophen, and released him back to Border Patrol custody. After the boy's condition worsened, he returned to the hospital, where he died.

The state medical examiner said Felipe died of sepsis caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

The DHS inspector general said it conducted a "detailed investigation" into both deaths before clearing personnel of misconduct and malfeasance.