8-year-old girl dies while in federal custody on the border

An 8-year-old child died while in custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday in Harlingen, according to a statement from the federal law enforcement agency.

Details about where the child was from and the cause of her death were not released as of Wednesday evening.

“The child and her family were in custody at the Harlingen Station where she experienced a medical emergency. Emergency Medical Services were called to the station and transported her to the local hospital where she was pronounced dead,” read a statement from CBP released on Wednesday.

Her death comes less than a week after the emergency public health order known as Title 42 expired, which allowed migrants to be turned away during the COVID-19 pandemic without allowing them to request asylum. Some predicted the change would lead to a significant increase in the number of migrants crossing the southern border, but that hasn’t happened, according to Biden administration officials.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2023/05/17/child-death-border-custody/