An eight-year-old girl died in US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody following a medical emergency, according to the agency.
The girl and her family were detained at a border patrol station in Harlingen, Texas, when she became ill, according to the CBP.
According to the agency, she was taken to a local hospital and proclaimed dead on Wednesday.
It stated that the event would be investigated and that the Department of Homeland Security had been contacted.
The infant is believed to be the first to die in US Border Patrol custody in several years.
The authorities provided no information about the girl’s medical emergency or the circumstances preceding her death. It stated that it will provide more information as it becomes available.
It comes only a week after a 17-year-old Honduran migrant who arrived in the US alone died at a government shelter in Florida.
It comes shortly after the expiration of Title 42, a Covid-19-era border policy that allowed the US to quickly expel migrants who crossed into the country illegally.
Border officials had been bracing for a sharp rise in migrant crossings in the wake of its expiration, though initial data shows US officials saw a much smaller surge than expected.
