(KSTU) — Jason Chaffetz, a former representative for Utah spoke with Fox News about the death of a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who was in the custody of Border Control when she died, saying “don’t make this journey, it will kill you.”
The Washington Post said that the girl died of dehydration and septic shock last week after she was taken into custody by Border Patrol after crossing illegally with her father into the United States.
Guatemalan Consul Tekandi Paniagua said the father, Nery Gilberto Caal, told him agents did everything they possibly could to help his daughter, Jakelin Caal Maquin, after she became sick on a a bus. The bus traveled from the Antelope Wells port of entry in New Mexico to a Border Patrol station in Lordsburg, New Mexico, about 90 minutes away.
Caal did not speak to the media Saturday, but in a statement issued by his lawyers, he said he was “grateful for the many first responders that tried to save young Jakelin’s life in New Mexico and Texas.”
Chaffetz said that the girl’s death should not have happened, and should be a warning to other migrants making long journeys to the U.S. border.
“The sad reality of this is that we have a 7-year-old girl that’s died,” Chaffetz said. “She should have never, ever made that journey. That should be the message. Don’t make this journey. It will kill you.”
CNN contributed to portions of this story.
