Despite the flag, Border Patrol staff did not check the files before the vulnerable eight-year-old girl died. wagon radio 720

HARRINGEN, Texas (AP) – Border Patrol medical staff refused to review files until an 8-year-old girl with chronic heart disease and a rare blood disorder suffered a seizure and died on her ninth day in custody. . Found out in an internal investigation.

US Customs and Border Protection said the Panamanian child’s parents shared their medical history with authorities on May 10, the day after the family was detained.

However, CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility said in its initial statement on Thursday’s May 17 death that a nurse refused access to documents related to the girl on the day she died. Nurses reported refusing three or four ambulance requests from the girl’s mother.

Anadis Taney Reyes Alvarez developed a fever of 104.9 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius) the day before he died, the report said.

According to the Office of Professional Responsibility, the equivalent of the police’s Internal Affairs Office, the video surveillance system at the Harlingen, Texas police station has been shut down since April 13, violating federal laws that prevent evidence collection. The system was flagged for repair, but was not repaired until May 23, six days after the girl’s death.

Still, the report, based on interviews with Border Patrol agents and contract medical personnel, does a lot about what happened during the girl’s nine-day detention, well beyond Border Patrol’s own limit of 72 hours. raised a new and thorny question.

Investigators seemed at a loss for words, offering no explanation for the decisions made by the medical staff.

“Despite the girl’s condition, her mother’s concerns, and the course of treatment needed to manage her condition, contracted medical personnel did not transfer her to a hospital for more advanced treatment,” the expert said. The Office of Responsibility said.

CBP Acting Director Troy Miller said the initial investigation had “provided significant new information about this tragic death” and reviewed all “medically vulnerable” cases in custody. It reaffirmed its recent measures, including ensuring that detainees are released from detention as soon as possible. The average detention time for families has been cut by more than half in two weeks, he said.

“(This death) was a very upsetting and unacceptable tragedy. We can and will do better to ensure that something like this never happens again,” Miller said. said.

Anadis said on May 9, amid a flood of immigrants that breached the end of pandemic-related asylum-seeking restrictions, the number of illegal immigrants in a single day exceeded 10,000. I moved to Brownsville, Texas with my brother.

She was diagnosed with influenza on May 14 at a transit facility in Donna, Texas, and was transferred to Harlingen with her family. At Harlingen station, her staff met with Anadis and her mother about nine times over the next four days, until she died of concerns including high fever, flu symptoms, nausea and difficulty breathing. Her Office of Professional Responsibility said she was given medication, ice packs and cold showers.

In January, court-appointed monitors expressed concern that chronic illnesses in medically vulnerable children were not passed on to border guards.

Dr. Paul H. Wise, a professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, was in South Texas last week to investigate the circumstances surrounding his view of “preventable” deaths, especially when it comes to sending sick children to the hospital. said there should be little hesitation. Those with chronic diseases.

Anadis’s mother, Mabel Alvarez Benedix, told the Associated Press that she told staff of her child’s symptoms, including sickle cell anemia, and repeatedly asked for medical help and an ambulance to take her daughter to the hospital. said the request was denied until she recovered. The child lost consciousness.

Carla Marisol Vargas, an attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project who represented the family, said Border Patrol agents denied her pleas for medication until the day she died.

“They refused to review the documents showing the illness my daughter had,” Vargas said.

The family is living with relatives in New York City while funeral arrangements are being made.

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San Diego-based Associated Press reporter Elliot Spagat contributed to this article.