“I look forward to working with the agency to ensure another tragedy does not happen again,“ Rep. Joaquin Castro said Friday. | Alex Wong/Getty Images Immigration Democratic delegation to investigate migrant child’s death

Reps. Joaquín Castro (D-Texas) and Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) will lead a congressional delegation to the border Monday to investigate a migrant child’s death in the custody of U.S. agents.

Castro and Torres Small will lead at least four House members and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to Alamogordo, N.M., where an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died of illness on Christmas Eve. The delegation includes Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who plans to investigate the matter as part of his immigration oversight agenda. Castro has been a vocal opponent of President Donald Trump’s border wall, accusing the administration of seeking money from Congress while neglecting humanitarian provisions for migrants.


The delegation seeks to review records related to the boy's death and to speak with the border patrol agents who were with him, though a meeting has not yet been scheduled, according to a senior congressional aide. Castro, the chairman of the Hispanic Caucus, asked Homeland Security on Dec. 27 to preserve "any and all evidence" related to that incident and the death of another migrant child last month.

The members — including Reps. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) and Nadler — will also review DHS’ secondary medical checks for children in detention that were announced after the boy’s death.There was no emergency medical technician on duty Christmas Eve when he started to appear nauseous and lethargic, according to DHS officials.

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Any evidence Democrats gather could be used in future oversight hearings.

“This visit will allow us to see firsthand DHS' initial efforts that they recently rolled out to improve migrant care,” Castro said in a statement to POLITICO. “I look forward to working with the agency to ensure another tragedy does not happen again.“

The child, Felipe Gómez Alonzo, was detained Dec. 18 with his father and was transferred to the hospital the morning of Dec. 24 after coughing and exhibiting flu-like symptoms, according to DHS officials. The boy tested negative for strep throat and, despite having a high fever, was diagnosed with a cold and released back to border agents with prescriptions for antibiotics and Tylenol. Later that night, after a series of welfare checks, Border Patrol agents rushed him back to the hospital, officials said.

Alonzo‘s death came less than a month after a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl, Jakelin Caal Maquin, died in U.S. custody in El Paso, Texas.

The Trump administration has claimed, but offered scant evidence, that the children were already sick when they crossed the border. In response to the boy’s death, the department on Wednesday ordered secondary medical checks on every child in its custody, with a particular focus on children under 10.

“The deaths of Felipe and Jakelin are inexcusable,” Torres Small said in a statement. “Their deaths have highlighted a new reality on the border, and DHS hasn’t adapted quick enough to the changing circumstances on the border to keep children and families, agents, and our communities safe.”