Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen called the death of a 7-year-old girl in Border Patrol custody "a very sad example of the dangers" migrants face.
Nielsen, during a Friday morning appearance on "Fox & Friends," blamed the girl's death on her family's decision to try to enter the U.S.
"This is just a very sad example of the dangers of this journey," she said. "This family chose to cross illegally."
The young Guatemalan girl and her father were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents on Dec. 6 at the Antelope Wells Port of Entry in New Mexico. The pair crossed into the U.S. with a group of 163 other migrants in the middle of the night.
Officials said the girl had "not eaten or consumed water for several days" and her father did not indicate she was sick until they were boarding a bus hours after first encountering Border agents.
The girl died of dehydration and shock about 24 hours after she was taken by helicopter from Lordsville, N.M., to a hospital in El Paso, Texas.
While Nielsen said Border Patrol gave the family "immediate care," she said that DHS is looking into the incident.
"My heart goes out to the family for all of DHS," she added. "We gave immediate care, we'll continue to look into the situation."
Activists and immigration attorneys have long raised issues with the conditions of Border Patrol facilities and the treatment of asylum-seekers.
