Child Dies at US-Mexico Border

By: Jadyn Cleary
Child Dies at US-Mexico Border
   In April of 2018, President Trump enacted a policy that calls for the separation of families and detainment of children at the US-Mexico border. This resulted in lots of outrage from US citizens concerning the ethics of the policy. Along with the fact that young children were being separated from their parents, many people were horrified by the way the care of the detained children was handled. One of the most egregious instances of this was when an eight-year-old Guatemalan boy died while in custody of the US border agency in December of 2018. The boy died of the flu and was given medical attention beforehand, however, they were not able to properly diagnose him until an autopsy revealed the cause of death. This sparked outrage from many people, including President Trump, about the poor conditions the children were in, as well as the lack of sufficient care. He blamed the incident on Democrats who refused to pay for a border wall, ultimately leading to a government shut down, which contributed to the Border Agency being under-staffed. This incident led to more attention being placed on the health and living conditions of the detained children.
   The entire situation at the border can be considered a violation of human rights. Separating families and not being able to efficiently reconnect them directly violated article 16 of the UN’s Universal declaration of human rights which states that “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.”   The emotional trauma that has been inflicted on the families that were separated and detained is most definitely unethical due to the fact that children– some as young as an infant –are being taken away from their parents with no form of contact between them allowed. This policy was enacted not as a necessity to border security, but as a deterrent to potential illegal immigrant families. This means that it can be seen as even more unethical since it is an action that was taken not to benefit America, but to hurt foreigners. The situation at the border fails to even give illegal immigrants negative rights by not upholding a parent’s right to their child. It is important to recognize this violation of human rights in America so that we continue to be aware of injustices, both here and in the rest of the world, and fight for what is right.
Work Cited:
Barajas, Angela, and Nick Valencia. “Guatemalan Boy Who Died in US Custody Had the Flu, Medical Examiner Says.” CNN, Cable News Network, 29 Dec. 2018, www.cnn.com/2018/12/28/us/guatemalan-boy-border-patrol-death/index.html.

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