This year, a 21-month-old girl died two days after being released from a Border Patrol detention facility in Texas. According to a lawsuit against CBP filed on behalf of Mariee, the little girl, and her mother, Mariee had been healthy when she arrived to the US in March. She had never had any significant medical conditions before.
Mariee and her mother were held in an immigration facility named Dilley, in Texas, with five other mothers, each with a child. A child in the cell was already sick, but the women and their children were not provided any protective masks. Mariee fell sick within a week.
The child, who was seen by at least five different medical professionals during her stay at Dilley, was diagnosed with an ear infection and accute bronchiolitis. She was given Tylenol and an antibiotic she couldn't keep down, as well as Vicks VapoRub, an ointment that specifically says should not be given to children under the age of two. Mairee lost weight, vomited frequently and often ran fevers.
Mariee and her mother left the facility nearly a month after arriving. They were flown to New Jersey, but Mariee wasn't medically cleared for travel. Upon arriving to New Jersey, the girl was taken to an emergency room where she was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and pneumonia. She spent nearly six weeks in the ICU and died in May.