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SAN ANTONIO SECORTEZ, Guatemala (AP) – Cael Maquin received her first pair of shoes several weeks ago when her father announced that she would be leaving for the United States, thousands of miles away from this small indigenous community in Guatemala where she spent her days walking in the mud and surrounded by coconut trees.
The 7-year-old girl was excited about the prospect of a new life in another country, relatives said Saturday. Maybe she could have her first toy or learn to read and write.
Instead, she died in a Texas hospital two days after being arrested by US Border Patrol officers in a remote corner of the New Mexico desert.
This death drew attention to the increasingly perilous routes taken by Central American migrants to the United States, where some are considering seeking asylum, and on how migrants are treated once in detention. Jakelin's family says his father paid a human smuggler to sneak them across the border; the asylum was not planned.
Sadness hovers in the air outside the tiny, straw-roofed wooden house, on the dirt floor, a few sheets and a home for cooking, where Jakelin slept with his parents and his parents. three brothers and sisters. The brothers are barefoot, their feet covered with mud and the clothes are ragged. A heart made of wood and wrapped in plastic announces the death of Jakelin.
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Grandfather Domingo Caal said his family earned $ 5 a day from harvesting corn and beans. But it was not enough. Jakelin's father, Nery Caal, decided to migrate with his favorite child to earn money that he could send home. Nery often took his daughter fishing in a nearby river. The long trip to the north would be an even greater adventure.
The girl jumped with joy when she was informed of the trip, said Domingo Caal in Spanish.
The inhabitants of San Antonio Secortez, a lush mountain hamlet of 420 inhabitants located in the municipality of Raxruha, speak the Mayan language Q 'eqchi, although most men also know Spanish.
Domingo Caal translated for Claudia Maquin while she was trying to describe the life of her daughter while holding back her tears. Jakelin liked to climb trees, explains Claudia, but she gives few details.
"Whenever they ask me what happened to the girl, it still hurts me," said Maquin.
More : A 7-year-old migrant girl who died under border surveillance received medical attention 90 minutes after the onset of symptoms
Members of 13 families of San Antonio Secortez established a home in the United States and members of the community set off firecrackers to celebrate each time one word arrived that a villager had done. The Caals have said they think Jakelin and Nery will get there too.
"He was desperate," said Domingo Caal, explaining that his son had borrowed money – using his parcel as collateral – to pay for the trip.
Tekandi Paniagua, Guatemala's consul in Del Rio, Texas, told the Associated Press that Nery Caal and his daughter had taken about a week to reach the US border. Paniagua said that Caal, 29, told him Friday that they had been dropped off the border and had walked only an hour and a half to reach it.
Shortly afterwards, they were arrested with a large group of migrants near the Antelope Wells border crossing at approximately 9:15 pm. December 6, in an arid and rugged area dotted with ghost towns and abandoned buildings.
The consul says that Caal told him that the girl had never run out of food or water, neither before nor after being detained, and that he was not complaining the way they had been treated.
Read more: After the death of a 7-year-old migrant girl in the custody of the Border Patrol, Kirstjen Nielsen said that "this family had chosen to cross illegally", and his detractors blame his death for being blamed on his family. A heart-shaped panel is named after Jakelin Amei Rosmey Caal in Raxruha, Guatemala on Saturday, December 15, 2018. Ros's Associated Press / Oliver
and Border Protection said Friday that the girl had initially appeared healthy and that an interview did not show any signs of distress. The authorities said that his father spoke in Spanish to border services officers and signed a form stating that she was in good health.
Jakelin's death immediately put questions to members of Congress and others about whether more could have been done. There were only four officers working with a group of 163 migrants, including 50 unaccompanied children, and a single bus to take them to the nearest train station, 150 km away. The Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security has opened an investigation.
This bus went to the border patrol filled with unaccompanied minors – according to the protocol – for several hours, while the girl and her father were waiting for her return. They left about eight hours after being arrested.
Caal told the consul that while they were on the bus, his daughter began to feel hot and uncomfortable and began to vomit. Caal told the driver that his daughter was sick.
According to officials, officers radioed that emergency medical technicians would be available in Lordsburg. When they arrived, 90 minutes later, she had stopped breathing. Emergency teams rescued her and she was flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where the father was driven.
The girl died at approximately 8:30 am on December 8, approximately 19 hours after beginning to vomit on the bus and 27 hours after being arrested. The authorities said that she had swelling of the brain and liver failure. An autopsy was planned to determine the cause of death. The results could take weeks.
According to Paniagua, the father, whom he described as a devout evangelical Christian, now seems to be "more serene, more stable".
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