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Refugees at the U.S. border
Photo: Andres Leighton / AP
In Harlingen in the US state of Mexico, an eight-year-old girl from Panama has died. Anadith Tanay Reyes Alvares and her family were detained there by border guards. Reyes Alvares had been born with heart problems and suffered a medical emergency, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The eight-year-old was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy was ordered.
Reyes Alvares is the second minor to die in the custody of U.S. authorities within a short period of time. A week earlier, 17-year-old Ángel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza from Honduras had died. At the beginning of the year, a four-year-old child is said to have died in US custody.
In recent weeks, a large number of refugees from Latin America have once again arrived at the US border. After the Corona emergency was lifted, a regulation by the Trump administration that made it easier to turn back refugees also ended.
Last week, hundreds of migrants were detained in the open air on U.S. soil between two border walls in San Diego. Many lived for days on water, chips or granola bars and what volunteers or vendors brought through the openings in the wall.
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