An internal investigation by The Customs and Border Patrol has revealed that an 8-year-old girl died while she was in federal custody on May 17. According to the investigation, Anadith Tanay Reyes Álvarez was not taken to the hospital when she had a 104.9-degree fever on the day before she died, NBC News reported.
“A contracted nurse practitioner also declined to review documents and refused repeated requests for an ambulance from the mother of Anadith Tanay Reyes Álvarez in the hours before the child appeared to suffer a seizure and died on her ninth day in the agency’s custody,” investigators stated.
Anadith, who was born in Panama to Honduran parents, underwent medical screening when she came to Brownsville, Texas on May 9 with her two her siblings and parents. During the medical screening, which is part of the intake process, the parents shared “the 8-year-old’s medical history, including that she had congenital heart disease and sickle cell anemia,” the CBP said.
The agency revealed much more additional concerning details in the case.
“The nurse practitioner also reported denying three or four requests from the girl’s mother for an ambulance to be called or for her to be taken to the hospital,” the agency stated.
The report reveals even more troubling findings.
“Another contracted medical employee reported having brought a pile of documents and a bottle of folic acid tablets from the family’s property to the nurse practitioner at approximately 10:30 a.m. The nurse practitioner declined to review the papers but did agree to the mother’s request to administer one folic acid tablet to her daughter,” the investigation stated.
Contracted medical personnel also failed to consult with on-call physicians about the girl’s condition, symptoms, or treatment and neglected to “document numerous medical encounters, emergency antipyretic interventions and administrations of medicine,” the report adds.
Investigators also said they’re unable to review surveillance video because the system at Harlingen Station went out of service on April 13 and it wasn’t fixed until May 23, six days after the child died.
“Anadith’s parents came to this country seeking what most of us want for our children — safety, opportunity, and the chance at a better future, but instead, they were met with tragedy,” Karla Marisol Vargas, a senior attorney with the Beyond Borders Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project, said in a statement according to NBC News. “To add to their suffering and righteous anger, through this statement, the U.S. government is trying to divert responsibility for this little girl’s death away from their own deadly neglect.”
Vargas and her team, who is representing Anadith’s family, plans to have an independent autopsy to determine the child’s cause of death.
“They could have done something for my daughter if they had called the ambulance sooner,” Anadith’s mother, Mabel Álvarez told Noticias Telemundo. “My daughter would still be alive.”
The devastated mother described her child as a “friendly, loving” girl. Álvarez said Anadith wanted to someday help children who have the same health conditions she had.
