WASHINGTON _ The White House defended the Border Patrol on Friday after a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl died in its custody of exhaustion and dehydration, but the child's death _ and the agency's weeklong delay in disclosing it _ prompted an outcry on Capitol Hill.
An autopsy and investigation by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general is underway, but the case raised questions about whether negligence by Border Patrol agents contributed to the death and concerns that the Trump administration's immigration crackdown has funneled migrants into more dangerous areas.
Hogan Gidley, the deputy White House press secretary, called the girl's death "a horrific, tragic situation" and "100 percent preventable."
But he blamed Congress, and especially Democrats, for not passing what he called "some common-sense laws to disincentivize people" from crossing the border illegally.
The girl, whose name has not been released, was with her father and 161 other migrants when they crossed into a remote and rugged part of New Mexico last week. They made their way about 90 miles north when they approached three Border Patrol agents about 9:15 p.m. on Dec. 6, and turned themselves in.
The girl died just over 24 hours later in Border Patrol custody.
Homeland Security officials said Friday that she had begun to suffer seizures and that her temperature spiked to 105.9 degrees. They said she was airlifted to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, about 165 miles away, but died after a heart attack and a third resuscitation, early on Nov. 8.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the Border Patrol, initially said the girl "reportedly had not eaten or consumed water for several days," but on Friday it said that the migrants were offered water at the post where the girl was being held.
The border agency did not acknowledge the Guatemalan girl's death, or report it to Congress, until several hours after The Washington Post first reported it Thursday night.
Kevin McAleenan, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, did not mention the death when he testified Tuesday to the Senate Judiciary Committee about oversight of the Border Patrol, a law enforcement agency.
A spokeswoman for Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the committee, said he had not been notified of the death. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking member, also was not notified, her office said.
Notification of Congress is required by law, according to a spokesman for Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
"It's heartbreaking and unacceptable that a 7-year-old girl died of dehydration and shock last week in Customs and Border Protection custody," Feinstein said in a statement. "Families walking hundreds of miles across the desert for a chance for refuge in the United States are desperate. This country owes them compassionate, humane treatment."
