Migrant Mother Sues U.S. for $60M After ICE-Detained Child Died Weeks After Release

Originally published by The Daily Beast

A Guatemalan mother has filed a $60 million wrongful-death suit against the U.S. government, claiming that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials at a Texas detention facility failed to adequately treat a respiratory infection that eventually killed her 19-month-old daughter. “Mariee entered Dilley a healthy baby girl and 20 days later was discharged a gravely ill child with a life-threatening respiratory infection,” the family’s lawyer said in a statement cited Wednesday by CNN. “Mariee died just months before her 2nd birthday because ICE and others charged with her medical care neglected to provide the most basic standard of care as her condition rapidly deteriorated and her mother Yazmin pleaded for help.” The lawsuit alleges that six days after the pair was detained at a facility in south Texas, Juarez began repeatedly seeking care for her daughter’s respiratory infection—but that Mariee was only given a prescription that didn’t work. Soon after they were released, Juarez took her daughter to the hospital, where she remained for six weeks until her death. “After it became clear that Mariee was gravely ill, ICE simply discharged mother and daughter,” the statement alleged. “Yazmin immediately sought medical care for her baby, but it was too late.” Customs and Border Protection declined CNN’s request for comment.

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