Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke told Newsmax TV on Friday that Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen should have defended her department after a child died while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
When asked about the death of Felipe Gomez Alonzo, the 8-year-old Guatemalan migrant who died on Christmas Eve, Clarke said that law enforcement was not responsible,” and said, “shame on the Secretary of Homeland Security for pandering, really, in this situation… it's an overreaction, it's a knee jerk reaction.”
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The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator has yet to determine Alonzo’s cause of death, but did note that the child had the flu. He had been taken to the hospital on Monday with signs of illness, but was released after 90 minutes.
Clarke said that “you take a look at what's going on but sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all,” and told Nielsen to “defend the actions of your people…. This was on the parents and she should have the courage to say that. I understand she's walking a tight rope – has to be careful what she says, but for heaven's sakes this is not the fault of the United States government, Border Patrol, ICE or anybody. And so I just look at this and I shake my head, you know this is on the parents and someone should have the courage within DHS to say that.”
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