'World should know,' migrant tells U.S. Congress of toddler's death

By Bryan Pietsch

 

Yazmin Juarez, mother of 19-month-old Mariee, who died after detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), testifies before a House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services hearing titled, "Kids in Cages: Inhumane Treatment at the Border" in Washington, U.S. July 10, 2019. REUTERS/Erin Scott

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Guatemalan asylum seeker left some members of a U.S. House panel visibly shaken on Wednesday with the story of her daughter's death, saying the toddler had contracted a deadly lung infection during a 20-day detention near the U.S. border with Mexico.

 

Yazmin Juarez told a House of Representatives subcommittee that it was "like they tore out a piece of my heart" when just weeks after they were released her daughter Mariee died at 19 months old.

 

She said she left a hospital with nothing but a piece of paper with two handprints in pink paint that staff had made for her, and described through a translator how she missed her daughter's hugs.

 

Juarez said it was hard to relive the experience, but wanted to shed light on the lack of medical care. "The world should know," she said.

 

"It can’t be so hard for a country like the United States to protect kids who are locked up."

 

Juarez testified at the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that was examining treatment of refugees in U.S. detention.

 

Apprehensions along the border have spiked to the highest in at least a decade, driven by families from Central America who say they are seeking asylum and fleeing violence in their home countries.

 

Images of filthy detention facilities jammed with refugees has sparked widespread criticism. On Monday U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said she was "appalled" that migrant children were forced to sleep on floors.

 

President Donald Trump's tough stance on immigration has been one of his signature policies. "If Illegal Immigrants are unhappy with the conditions in the quickly built or refitted detentions centres, just tell them not to come," Trump wrote on Twitter last week.

 

Juarez told members of Congress, several of whom appeared shaken by her testimony, that her daughter was healthy when the pair were initially detained. They were held with 30 others, including sick children whom Juarez said could have infected her daughter.

 

Juarez said that she and her daughter fled violence in Guatemala for a better life.

 

“Unfortunately, that did not happen,” Juarez said.

 

Several members of the subcommittee including New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hugged Juarez after she spoke.

 

"No hay palabras, there are no words," said Chip Roy of Texas, the ranking Republican on the subcommittee.

 

He blamed Democrats for the border crowding.

 

"The blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to actually address this," he said.

 

The hearing came as a senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection official told reporters that border agents were detaining only about 200 unaccompanied children at locations in the Southwest as of Wednesday, down from more than 2,500 in May. The reduction reflects funding increases that have enabled a federal health agency to expand its holding capacity.

 

(Reporting by Bryan Pietsch; Additional reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Frank McGurty and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-07-11

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking Thailand news and visa info

Thier is only one person to blam here... and that is the Mother! Why would you leave Guatemalan to seek asylum from what?

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/guatemala

The only blame here is the department entrusted to care for the child. The child is in custody so it is the custodians responsibility.

 

The reasons the child is there is of no matter. Once anyone is in custody the onus for duty of care moves only to the dept in charge.

No excuses none whatsoever sujo is spot on it is the custodians responsibility rip little one rip

50 minutes ago, doggie1955 said:

Thier is only one person to blam here... and that is the Mother! Why would you leave Guatemalan to seek asylum from what?

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/guatemala

Most of these migrants don't qualify for asylum. Being poor is not a qualification for asylum.

    First, an asylum applicant must establish that he or she fears persecution in their home country. Second, the applicant must prove that he or she would be persecuted on account of one of five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or particular social group.

47 minutes ago, doggie1955 said:

Thier is only one person to blam here... and that is the Mother! Why would you leave Guatemalan to seek asylum from what?

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/guatemala

I agree that the mother has a great deal of responsibility. I can see the others point too. What other option does a nation have when people cross its borders than to arrest them? If they just ignore them and let them enter, aren't they still under that nation's responsibility? The US does much more for these people than most nations do and you can see that right here in Thailand. Most of them will get into the US and most will stay whether the get asylum or not.

 

I heard one caller on a radio program say 80,000 Americans die from Flu each year yet when 2 people in these detentions centers do, it's all over the news. Isn't there some truth in that?

 

I don't know what your point of posting that lonely planet website was. I guess to show that Guatamala doesn't seem to have too many problems because its a tourist destination. Thailand is a the same and on lonely planet too. But of course, we know that some people do have to flee Thailand to avoid jail for their political views. They get asylum. So both Guatemala and Thailand are both open to tourism and both seem to have people seeking asylum for different reasons.

Sorry ,they are economic migrants ,so the only blame lies on their heads ,so sorry for the poor child that they put in this position .

2 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

Sorry ,they are economic migrants ,so the only blame lies on their heads ,so sorry for the poor child that they put in this position .

Then the govt is responsible for the death because the child was still held in custody instead of deported after their request was determined.

 

 

How can a child be an economic migrant?

3 hours ago, PhonThong said:

Most of these migrants don't qualify for asylum. Being poor is not a qualification for asylum.

    First, an asylum applicant must establish that he or she fears persecution in their home country. Second, the applicant must prove that he or she would be persecuted on account of one of five protected grounds: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or particular social group.

Qualifying or not is totally irrelevant. I note u say MOST. So did this child qualify?

 

it doesnt matter whether anyone qualifies or not. Whilst they are being held in custody awaiting dtermination of their request they are formally in the care of that dept. so the dept is responsible. 

5 hours ago, PhonThong said:

Most of these migrants don't qualify for asylum.

Then she should have stayed put and not willfully endangered her child. The international rules of asylum are simple; the first democratic country you come to where your lives are no longer in danger, that is where you must apply for asylum. In her case it would be Mexico. Her greed ended her child's life, and the idiot liberal media lap it up. 

 

There's too much here that doesn't smell right. 

 

Yazmin Juarez said she fled Guatemala last year to seek a better life in the U.S. with her baby daughter. But Juarez said 19-month-old Mariee died after developing a viral respiratory infection during three weeks of detention, despite hospital treatment after her release.

Her 19-month old daughter Mariee died six weeks after being discharged from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility.

 

Can anyone else see troubling factors in this testimony?

 

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/10/guatemalan-migrant-testifies-daughters-illness-eventual-death/1698218001/

...world should know....

 

...it is illegal to try to enter any country without going through the process and being granted permission...

4 hours ago, Sujo said:

Then the govt is responsible for the death because the child was still held in custody instead of deported after their request was determined.

 

 

Ok, but put the blame on the correct part of the Government that is creating that situation. Trump is the one trying send these people back and secure the border, which would end forever these kind of incidents. Left wing elements in the Congress and Judicairy are the ones are cynically gumming up that process in their efforts to completely remake the demographics of America. This dead girl was just collateral damage they are prepared to accept. Right now we have over 100,000 "new" Americans pouring over the border every month. A handful of them dying isn't going to amount to a hill of beans in terms of the Left's grand plan. 

21 minutes ago, SOTIRIOS said:

...world should know....

 

...it is illegal to try to enter any country without going through the process and being granted permission...

No it is not. Once an asylum request is made the way they entered is irrelevant. If they are found to be genuine refugees then an illegal entry charge is voided.

 

So it is not considered illegal until they are found not to be genuine.

 

Until then they are in the care of the US govt who are responsible for their welfare whilst in custody.

7 minutes ago, usviphotography said:

Ok, but put the blame on the correct part of the Government that is creating that situation. Trump is the one trying send these people back and secure the border, which would end forever these kind of incidents. Left wing elements in the Congress and Judicairy are the ones are cynically gumming up that process in their efforts to completely remake the demographics of America. This dead girl was just collateral damage they are prepared to accept. Right now we have over 100,000 "new" Americans pouring over the border every month. A handful of them dying isn't going to amount to a hill of beans in terms of the Left's grand plan. 

Regardless. The IS govt is responsible. Trump does have emegency powers he likes to try to use to build a wall, but not to provide safe sanitary environment for children who they hold in custody.

Very odd Trump was elected primarily on a program to fix this problem and yet its got so bad its an emergency.

 

And yet people try to defend him.

 

Was it worse or better before Trump? And his 2 years of controlling both houses.

Just now, Sujo said:

Regardless. The IS govt is responsible. Trump does have emegency powers he likes to try to use to build a wall, but not to provide safe sanitary environment for children who they hold in custody.

Again, look to the Congress and Judiciary. Trump has tried. The Left does not want adequate detention built because that would mean everyone would be detained. If detention facilities remain inadequate, then the majority of people crossing the border are "catch and released" and ever never heard from again. The status quo exists because it suits the Left's agenda. They are getting everything they want right now. If Trump were allowed to build adequate detention facilities, as was done in Australia, the flows would stop virtually overnight. 

1 hour ago, usviphotography said:

Again, look to the Congress and Judiciary. Trump has tried. The Left does not want adequate detention built because that would mean everyone would be detained. If detention facilities remain inadequate, then the majority of people crossing the border are "catch and released" and ever never heard from again. The status quo exists because it suits the Left's agenda. They are getting everything they want right now. If Trump were allowed to build adequate detention facilities, as was done in Australia, the flows would stop virtually overnight. 

 

You're right - it suits the left's agenda to use these people as pawns and exploit these tragedies. They are playing political games.

 

I see you've managed to confuse one poor old often confused poster again!

A profane troll post and the replies have been removed. 

Mom called heads or tails with her child, should I stay or should I go.  Mother tried for a better economic future for the child and lost. America is not responsible for the welfare of the world, even the ones that walk across the border knowing they are not wanted or welcome.

Plenty of inner city people could be helped with the money wasted on the illegals.

Absolutely! The world should know not to come here illegally.

4 hours ago, Sujo said:

Regardless. The IS govt is responsible. Trump does have emegency powers he likes to try to use to build a wall, but not to provide safe sanitary environment for children who they hold in custody.

The child had been OUT of custody for 6 weeks. Just how long does the US have responsibility after people are released; 10 years, 20 years, whole of life, next 3 generations? 

56 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Mom called heads or tails with her child, should I stay or should I go.  Mother tried for a better economic future for the child and lost. America is not responsible for the welfare of the world, even the ones that walk across the border knowing they are not wanted or welcome.

Plenty of inner city people could be helped with the money wasted on the illegals.

The govt is responsible for those in detention. Or do you think the toddler could wander out of detention to the doctor and buy some prescription drugs.

6 minutes ago, Ozman52 said:

The child had been OUT of custody for 6 weeks. Just how long does the US have responsibility after people are released; 10 years, 20 years, whole of life, next 3 generations? 

The child was ok when it was put into custody. It got sick while in custody. Hope the mother sues the pants off the govt

31 minutes ago, rgraham said:

Absolutely! The world should know not to come here illegally.

Asking for asylum is not illegal

5 minutes ago, Sujo said:

The child was ok when it was put into custody. It got sick while in custody. Hope the mother sues the pants off the govt

According to her mother, who may be just a tad biased. But that didn't answer my question, did it?

6 minutes ago, Ozman52 said:

According to her mother, who may be just a tad biased. But that didn't answer my question, did it?

Then show how the toddler was assessed by medical staff. 

 

To answer the question, if the child was assessed as healthy then died later as a result of what it got whilst in detention then it doesnt matter how long.

So countries which have problems, must then burden the USA with their people?

Why not fix those countries, then the need to migrate would not be required.

 

I feel sorry for the kid, always the innocent parties in all of this mess.

the mother risked her life and her daughters life. no one but her is responsible