Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is calling for the Senate Judiciary Committee to convene for a meeting after a second child died while in the custody of U.S. Border Patrol.
Two Guatemalan children, 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin and 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo, died while in the custody of Customs and Border Protection this month.
"This tragedy, the death of a child in government custody is deeply concerning and heartbreaking," Nielsen wrote in a statement on Wednesday. "In the last 24 hours, I have ... directed a series of additional actions to care for those who enter our custody."
"These heartbreaking incidents are sadly consistent with previous reports of widespread abuse of children in immigration custody and the judgment of medical and mental health organizations that Border Patrol facilities are not adequately staffed or equipped to properly care for children," Feinstein wrote in a letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who will chair the panel when the new Congress is seated next year, according to CNN.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan on Wednesday said that his department needs additional help and resources from Congress.
Feinstein noted the deaths of the two children, along with reports of a 5-month-old in the hospital and children being murdered in Tijuana, and said that although she has contacted McAleenan, she has “not received answers to explain why these deaths occurred.”
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