CBP: Nurse refused to call an ambulance before migrant girl died in custody

A nurse turned down multiple requests to take an ailing eight-year-old immigrant girl to the hospital the same day the girl died in Texas Border Patrol (CBP) custody earlier this month, investigators said Thursday.

Anadit Tanay Reyes Alvarez, who suffered from sickle cell anemia and heart disease, passed away on May 17. after she and her family spent more than a week in Border Patrol custody despite agency rules requiring agents to detain detainees for no more than three days.

While the death is still being investigated by the Border Guards Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), the preliminary findings have raised serious questions about why the family was in custody for so long and why Reyes Alvarez was not transferred to the hospital after several cases. in which she and her mother sought medical attention.

On Thursday, CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which is investigating the death, released a statement confirming that border guards and agency-hired medical personnel were unable, and in some cases refused, to transfer Reyes Alvarez to a hospital despite concerns expressed. for her mother

The findings, released Thursday, are based on interviews conducted by investigators with border officials and medical contractors. the cameras in the facility where the Reyes Alvarez family was last detained were not working at the time, according to the Central Bank.

Investigators said Border Patrol medical personnel in Harlingen, Texas, said they saw the girl about nine times between May 14 and the early hours of May 17. The family was moved there after Reyes Alvarez tested positive for the flu. They were first taken into custody by the Border Patrol on May 9 after crossing the US border near Brownsville, Texas.

During those nine visits, Reyes Alvarez complained of pain, fever and flu-like symptoms, investigators said. The girl was diagnosed with a fever that peaked at 104.9 degrees on May 16, they added. Health officials gave Reyes Alvarez Tamiflu, fever medication, ice packs and cold showers. But they didn’t take her to the hospital.

May 17 only Reyes Alvarez reported abdominal pain, nausea and shortness of breath. She was examined by a contracted nurse four times that day.. A nurse told investigators that Reyes Alvarez’s oxygen levels were checked each time and seemed normal. The girl was given Zofran, an anti-nausea drug, but the nurse refused to take her to the hospital, CBP said.

The nurse also said by refusing three or four requests from the girl’s mother to call an ambulance or take her to the hospital.

CBP investigators said none of the Border Patrol officers and medical personnel interviewed as part of the ongoing review reported this. Be aware of Reyes Alvarez sickle cell anemia and heart disease.

The researchers also found that medical contractors they did not record the multiple medical visits of Reyes Alvarez and did not consult with the doctors on duty, including the pediatrician, about the girl’s symptoms.

Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller, in a separate statement released Thursday, cdescribed the death of Reyes Alvarez as an unacceptable tragedy and said the agency would work to “do better so this never happens again.”

Miller said that CBP initiated case review of medically vulnerable immigrants and detained families to ensure that they were quickly transferred from the agency’s custody. He also noted that CBP has repaired the cameras at the Harlingen facility and has barred some medical contractors involved in the ongoing investigation from working with the agency again.

“The CBP Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) Update on the Investigation of this Death dated May 17, 2023 contains important new information about this tragic death that will assist us in our efforts to prevent this from happening again,” Miller added.