Trump Slams Democrats, Blames Them for Deaths of 2 Migrant Children
President Donald Trump on Saturday said Democrat-sponsored immigration policies are the root cause of the deaths of two migrant children at the southern border.
Last week, Felix Gomez Alonzo, 8, of Guatemala died while in federal custody. Earlier in December, Jakelin Caal, 7, also of Guatemala, died after she and her father attempted to cross the border illegally.
Trump said the promise of successful illegal immigrations has been fostered by Democrats, and lures Central American migrants who fall ill or die.
“Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. They can’t. If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try!” Trump tweeted.
“The two children in question were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol. The father of the young girl said it was not their fault, he hadn’t given her water in days. Border Patrol needs the Wall and it will all end. They are working so hard & getting so little credit!” Trump wrote in his tweets.
Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally. They can’t. If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try! The two…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2018
…children in question were very sick before they were given over to Border Patrol. The father of the young girl said it was not their fault, he hadn’t given her water in days. Border Patrol needs the Wall and it will all end. They are working so hard & getting so little credit!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2018
Alonzo had been showing symptoms of an illness when Border Patrol agents sent him to a medical facility, where he was diagnosed with a cold and given medication, according to KDNL.
The boy however, later complained he did not feel well and vomited. However, a DHS spokesman said that agents were told by a man who said he was the boy’s father that Alonzo did not need to return to the hospital because he was feeling better, KDNL reported.
The boy died on Christmas Eve.
An autopsy later confirmed that he died of the flu, Fox News reported.
His father, Agustin Gomez, thought he would be able to enter the U.S., the boy’s stepsister, Catarina Gomez Lucas, told Fox News.
“We heard rumors that they could pass (into the United States). They said they could pass with the children,” Lucas said.
Caal, the 7-year-old girl who died on Dec. 8, died of sepsis shock, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement about death on its Facebook page.
DHS said that although the father claimed later that his daughter had been sick for several days, he also denied during an interview with Border Patrol agents that his daughter was sick. The girl was eventually airlifted to a hospital but died.
The DHS statement warned parents to avoid a repetition of the tragedy.
“As we have repeatedly said, traveling north illegally into the United States is extremely dangerous. Drug cartels, human smugglers and the elements pose deadly risks to anyone who attempts to cross the border illegally. Once again, we are begging parents to not put themselves or their children at risk by attempting to enter illegally. Please, we are begging you, present yourselves and your children at a port of entry and seek to enter legally and safely,” the statement said.
DHS has also said it is reviewing its policies for treating children who develop illnesses while in detention.
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