First Child Detained by Trump Reportedly dies due to ‘Possible Negligence’

Update 3:33pm Eastern: HillReporter has just learned, via the Washington Post, that the The American Immigration Lawyers Association has confirmed that a child did in fact die shortly after being released from the ICE detention center in Dilley, Texas. This is what AILA had to say:

“AILA has learned that a toddler died soon after release from the Dilley South Texas Family Residential Center,” Gregory Z. Chen, director of government relations for the 15,000-member association, said in a statement. “We do not have information on the cause of death or information that confirms a connection between medical treatment at STFRC and this death.”

Update 12:44pm Eastern: After several rounds of back-and-forth with ICE officials, Hill Reporter was able to ask if it “is aware of a child dying who was previously detained or not?” ICE Representative Danielle Bennett responded with a simple, “no.”

If the fact that the Trump administration has been responsible for separating and then locking up thousands of immigrant children at detention centers across the country wasn’t enough to make you feel sick to your stomach these last couple of months, then this may.

One of these children has now reportedly pass away after being in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a detention center in Dilley, Texas, according to Houston-based immigration attorney Mana Yegani.

“The child died following her stay at an ICE Detention Center, as a result of possible negligent care and a respiratory illness she contracted from one of the other children. The events took place in Dilley Family Detention Center in south Texas,” Yegani tweeted.

Very little information is being made available by ICE. While it is possible that this death may not be any fault of those running this particular ICE detention center, the very fact that these children are still locked up, away from their parents, and perhaps not getting the medical attention they deserve, is simply unacceptable to most Americans.

Additional tweets by Mana Yegani have added more details to this story:

https://twitter.com/Law_Mana/status/1024644004590374912

https://twitter.com/Law_Mana/status/1024634783094251520

Hill Reporter has reached out to ICE for further comment and clarification. We will update this article as more information comes in.