Detained migrant Guatemalan boy dies in US custody

An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy died late Christmas Eve in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection, the agency said, the second Guatemalan child to die in the agency's custody this month.

A Texas congressman named the child as Felipe Alonzo-Gomez.

The boy, who was detained with his father, died shortly before midnight at Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, about 90 miles north of the border crossing in El Paso, Texas.

"This is a tragic loss," CBP Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan said. "On behalf of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, our deepest sympathies go out to the family."

The boy was taken to the hospital Monday after a border agent noticed signs of illness, and the medical staff first diagnosed him with a common cold and later detected a fever.

"The child was held for an additional 90 minutes for observation and then released from the hospital mid-afternoon on December 24 with prescriptions for amoxicillin and Ibuprofen," CBP said in a news release. Amoxicillin is a commonly prescribed antibiotic.

On Monday evening, the boy began vomiting and was taken back to the hospital for evaluation. He died hours later, the CBP said.

The official cause of death is unknown. CBP is conducting a review and will release more details as they become available, it said.

It is the second time this month an immigrant child has died while being detained after crossing the US-Mexico border.

The previous instance saw seven-year-old Jakelin Caal, also from Guatemala, died just hours after being taken into custody.

Texan congressman Joaquin Castro called for a congressional investigation into the boy's death.

"We must ensure that we treat migrants and asylum-seekers with human dignity and provide the necessary medical care to anyone in the custody of the United States government," he said.

"The administration's policy of turning people away from legal ports of entry, otherwise known as metering, is putting families and children in great danger."

Thousands of migrants have travelled from Central America to the US border.

The migrants say they are fleeing persecution, poverty, and violence in their home countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Many of them say their goal is to settle in the US despite warnings by US officials that anyone found entering the country illegally will face arrest, prosecution, and deportation.

President Donald Trump has vowed to keep each migrant on the Mexican side of the border until courts have decided their cases, meaning some face a long wait.

They have been spending time in temporary shelters in the Mexican border city of Tijuana and in Mexicali, 180km to the east.