Beijing, 13 May (Xinhua) -- U.S. and Honduran officials confirmed on 12 May that a 17-year-old Honduran teenager died in an immigration detention facility in Florida, United States, on 10 May. The United States said it had launched an investigation into the matter.
The teenager was named Ángel Eduardo Maladiaga Espinosa. Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina wrote on social media that Maladiaga was in an immigration detention facility in Port Sifti, Florida, and that the United States had asked the United States to fully investigate.
On September 4, 2021, in Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico, a "migrant caravan" team headed for the United States. Since 2018, the tide of illegal immigration to the United States and Central America has continued to expand. Some Hondurans, Guatemala and El Salvador gathered through social networks and other means to travel thousands of kilometers to the U.S.-Mexico border by hitchhiker and walk, seeking various ways to enter the United States. Local media refer to this form of migration as the "migrant caravan". Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Damian Sanchez)
The US side did not release the cause of Maladiaga's death and other details. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services only said that Maladiaga was placed in this facility on the 5th of this month and died on the 10th; The United States has contacted his family and launched an investigation.
White House press secretary Karina Jean-Pierre expressed her condolences to Maladiaga's family at a regular press conference, also saying that the United States has launched an investigation.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press in Honduras, Maladiaga's mother, Norma, said Maladiaga had no known illness and no recent signs of illness.
According to Norma, Maradia left her hometown of Oranchito for the United States on the 25th of December, intending to reunite with her father, who had gone to the United States many years ago and worked there. On the 5th of this month, Maradiaga also called to report that he was safe. The call lasted two minutes, and she didn't expect to hear her son's voice for the last time.
Norma said her son embarked on a journey with the "American dream" but died elsewhere. "I want to know how my son died! But no one told me. I was in pain to death. ”
Workers work at the construction site of the Migrant Rescue Center located in Randall Island, New York City, USA, October 9, 2022. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Ying
Although the cause of Maladiaga's death is temporarily unknown, U.S. immigration detention facilities have previously been exposed to poor conditions, overcrowding, and mistreatment of migrants. According to US media reports, a total of 21 people died in US immigration detention facilities in fiscal year 2020. In addition, many migrants die trying to enter the United States despite dangerous and harsh environmental conditions to avoid interception.
In 2022, nearly 2.4 million migrants were detained at the U.S. border, a record high; The total number of migrant deaths at the southern border was 856, the highest number of deaths in a year. U.S. President Joseph Biden acknowledged at his first press conference in 2021 that facilities for detaining underage illegal immigrants were "overcrowded" and the conditions were "unacceptable."
This March 27, 2021, photo taken in Juárez, Mexico, shows two migrant children from Guatemala waiting to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing the Rio Grande River on the U.S.-Mexico border. For some time, the number of undocumented migrants and refugees along the U.S.-Mexico border has surged, and many children have been separated from their parents. Xinhua News Agency (photo by David Penardo)
According to US media reports, there are currently more than 8,000 unaccompanied minors in the US federal immigration detention facility, and the average detention time is about one month. In March, a 4-year-old girl from Honduras died after being sent to hospital after suffering cardiac arrest in an immigration detention facility, CNN reported.
The "Article 42" rapid deportation policy that began under former US President Donald Trump ended on the 11th, and the southern border of the United States has seen a wave of immigrants again in recent days. According to the US "Washington Post" reported on the 12th, the number of illegal immigrants this week exceeded 10,000 per day, reaching a new high. (Chen Lixi)
Source: Xinhuanet