Claudia Flores on the Death of 7-Year-Old Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin While in Border Patrol Custody

Death of Guatemalan Child Points to Deep Culture of Abuse and Neglect at US Customs and Border Patrol

Last week, a 7-year-old girl, identified by the El Paso County Medical Examiner as Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin from Guatemala, died while in Border Patrol custody.

Her father's account, that she was taken care of along the journey, is at odds with that of CBP, which had initially claimed Jakelin's death was due to dehydration and shock.

But her death is being seen by many as a culmination of a history of abuse and neglect at US Customs and Border Patrol, an agency tasked with detaining migrants crossing the southern border into the U.S.

A May report from the ACLU and the University of Chicago School of Law International Human Rights Clinic looked at documents from 2009 - 2014, which detailed a deep culture of mistreatment of migrants, both adults and children.

Claudia Flores is an associate clinical professor of law, and she's director of the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago School of Law.

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