Tipsheet

Where Was The Media Outrage When 18 Migrants Died In Custody Under The Obama Administration?

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  December 27, 2018 12:45 PM

Over Christmas, there was another tragedy at the border. An eight-year-old migrant boy died while in the custody of the Border Patrol. It’s horrible. It’s not something that anyone wants in these situations, but U.S. immigration authorities didn’t murder the child, which is heavily insinuated if not suggested by members of the liberal media. We have some folks going off half-cocked saying we have full-blown concentration camps under the Trump presidency when it comes to border enforcement. It’s straight up insanity. Then again, what would you expect the reaction would be from a movement that wants open borders? Associated Press has more:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection ordered medical checks on every child in its custody Tuesday after an 8-year-old boy from Guatemala died, marking the second death of an immigrant child in the agency’s care this month.

The death came during an ongoing dispute over border security and with a partial government shutdown underway over President Donald Trump’s request for border wall funding.

The boy, identified by Guatemalan authorities as Felipe Gómez Alonzo, had been in CBP’s custody with his father, Agustin Gomez, since Dec. 18. CBP said in a statement late Tuesday that an agent first noticed the boy had a cough and “glossy eyes” at about 9 a.m. Monday. He was eventually hospitalized twice and died just before midnight, the agency said. CBP earlier said that the boy died just after midnight.

CBP said in the statement it needs the help of other government agencies to provide health care. The agency “is considering options for surge medical assistance” from the Coast Guard and may request help from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

A CBP spokesman could not immediately answer how many children are currently in the agency’s custody. But with border crossings surging, CBP processes thousands of children — both alone and with their parents — every month.

Immigration advocates and human rights groups sharply criticized CBP in the wake of Felipe’s death. The body of 7-year-old Jakelin Caal, who died earlier this month, was returned this week to her village in Guatemala for burial.

You knew this was going to be used to attack the Trump White House. Enforcing federal immigration laws is evil, you see. And we have a new sheriff in town that is—you know—going to do that. This infuriates the Left to no end. Once again, we have to take liberal media by the hand to show that much of what Trump is doing at the border is what the Obama administration did. The Obama administration shot tear gas at migrants at the border, they separated children from adults at the border, and guess what; migrants died under the custody of U.S. immigration officials. In fact, 18 migrants died under the Obama regime. When are we going after him for being a proto-Nazi (via Daily Caller)?

In July 2016, Human Rights Watch condemned the Obama administration for 18 migrants who died while in the custody of USCBP, claiming that seven or more of the 18 died as the result of the agency’s “substandard” and “inappropriate” care for migrants at detention centers. The detainees who died then were between 24 and 49 years old.

No mass liberal media outrage then. And let’s not forget that the tragic death of Jakelin Caal was also not the fault of the Border Patrol; the father said so himself. Let’s say ‘Abolish ICE’ is not really a thing on the Left (I don’t trust the Left when they say this, by the way), that sentiment in how they attack the Trump administration for simply enforcing the law surely seems to suggest it’s very much part of the hive mind in liberal America. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen issued the following statement in the wake of the latest migrant death. She will be traveling to the border in the coming weeks:

"In the evening hours of December 24th, a child who had been apprehended with his father by the Border Patrol attempting to illegally enter the United States, died at an El Paso hospital after being taken for emergency treatment for the second time in less than 12 hours.  This tragedy, the death of a child in government custody is deeply concerning and heartbreaking. In the last 24 hours, I have a directed a series of additional actions to care for those who enter our custody.

"In recent months, we have seen a dramatic increase at the border of families and unaccompanied children crossing our border illegally.  In the last two months alone, the Border Patrol has apprehended 139,817 illegal aliens on the Southwest Border as compared to 74,946 during the same time frame of FY 2018.  This is an increase of 86%.  In just two months into this fiscal year we have seen 68,510 family units and 13,981 unaccompanied children.  This is a dramatic change from historical trends and has only become starker in December. 

"This changing dynamic is the direct result of obvious draw factors: an immigration system that rewards parents for sending their children across the border alone, a system that prevents parents who bring their children on a dangerous and illegal journey from facing consequences for their actions, an asylum process that is not able to quickly help those who qualify for asylum, a system that encourages fraudulent claims, and a system that encourages bad actors to coach aliens into making frivolous claims. The bottom line is that 9 out 10 asylum claims are rejected by a federal immigration judge.

"Our system has been pushed to a breaking point by those who seek open borders. Smugglers, traffickers, and their own parents put these minors at risk by embarking on the dangerous and arduous journey north. This crisis is exacerbated by the increase in persons who are entering our custody suffering from severe respiratory illnesses or exhibit some other illness upon apprehension.  Given the remote locations of their illegal crossing and the lack of resources, it is even more difficult for our personnel to be first responders.

[…]

"In response to the unprecedented surge of children into our custody, I have directed a series of extraordinary protective measures. I have personally engaged with the Centers for Disease Control to request that their experts investigate the uptick in sick children crossing our borders and identify additional steps hospitals along the border should be undertaking to prepare for and to treat these children. I have asked the US Coast Guard Medical Corps to provide an assessment of CBP’s medical programs and make appropriate recommendations for improvements.  I have also asked for assistance from the Department of Defense to provide additional medical professionals. 

"At my direction, all children in Border Patrol custody have been given a thorough medical screening. Moving forward, all children will receive a more thorough hands on assessment at the earliest possible time post apprehension – whether or not the accompanying adult has asked for one. 

"I have also spoken with our partners in Mexico to ask that they begin to investigate the causes of these illnesses on their side of the border and to provide medical assistance in shelters as needed. 

"I will be travelling to the border later this week to see first-hand the medical screenings and conditions at Border Patrol stations.   

And I’m sure we’ll see another rash of ludicrous liberal outrage at the GOP, Trump White House, and border enforcement officials for no reason; these two children were taken to the hospital to receive proper care. How terrible, right? All of this misdirected hostility will soon become endless in-kind contributions to the Trump 2020 campaign.