Last week, hours after being taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol, a 7-year-old member of the migrant caravan passed away. Reportedly, little Jackeline Caal died of dehydration and exhaustion. She and her father were part of a large group detained after sneaking into the U.S. along the New Mexico border.
Naturally, there’s nothing quite like a pilgrimage across a continent to dehydrate and exhaust. Yet, headlines for The Washington Post and Time made it sound as if the Border Patrol was somehow responsible for the horror.
7-year-old migrant girl taken into Border Patrol custody dies of dehydration, exhaustion https://t.co/Vb599XHO5I
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 14, 2018
A 7-year-old immigrant girl died after she was detained by border patrol https://t.co/F5uFLjompN
— TIME (@TIME) December 14, 2018
As for WaPo, the article clearly suggests the U.S. played some part in the child’s terrible demise:
The child’s death is likely to intensify scrutiny of detention conditions at Border Patrol stations and CBP facilities that are increasingly overwhelmed by large numbers of families seeking asylum in the United States.
However, the Post’s story reveals she was doomed by events prior to the crowd’s capture: Eight hours after being taken in, she began having seizures. Her fever grew to 105.7. She was transported immediately to a hospital, but she passed away with 24 hours.
According to Border Patrol records, Jackeline hadn’t been given food or water for several days.
So who is responsible? Border Patrol? ICE? Republicans? Trump?
How about the people who forced her to go on such a harsh journey, with insufficient supplies?
DHS Secretary Nielsen just addressed this in an intv w/ Fox calling it “heart wrenching,” and said the family was 90 miles away from where they could be process when apprehended by US Border Patrol. She added they "gave immediate care. We'll continue to look into the situation.” https://t.co/7JG3JR0Maw
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) December 14, 2018
For some people, the blame lies squarely on the shameful U.S.:
A migrant girl from Guatemala died in @CBP custody last week. She had been detained for about eight hours when she began having seizures. Revived from a cardiac arrest, then died about 24 hours later. Elections have consequences. https://t.co/OTjn7PZsBJ
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) December 14, 2018
This guy thinks it doesn’t matter what kills you; it only matters where you die. So Cedars Sinai is responsible for every celebrity death of the past 60 years?
She didn't die *on the journey* to America, @SecNielsen.
She died *in* America.
She died in El Paso, Texas, on the watch of the US Border Patrol, which reports to you.https://t.co/nqOO4oSc6W
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) December 14, 2018
Yep.
A 7 year old girl in Border Patrol custody died of dehydration and shock.
Feel safer? https://t.co/X03BF91skM
— David Leopold (@DavidLeopold) December 14, 2018
As per white guy Shaun King — who pretends to be black for some reason — it all falls on the shoulders of Donald Child-Hater Trump:
My God.
Shame on our country and shame on Donald Trump.
A 7 year old girl was taken into custody by US Border Patrol and died of "dehydration and shock."
These aren't thugs & criminals. They are people desperate for safe harbor.
This is a grave sin.https://t.co/g52Ypzn0e8
— Shaun King (@shaunking) December 14, 2018
And then there was this nut:
Jackeline Caal. Say her name. Say it now because we all let this happen. We should have swarmed the streets and stayed out there everyday until @POTUS was held accountable for his crimes against humanity. We all bear the shame of her death. I’m disgusted with America. https://t.co/uE0nVECYv4
— Dr. Buckoff (@DrBuckoff) December 14, 2018
Actress Wanda Sykes — who I very much like — evidently thinks it was racism that caused the tragedy:
Evil. I wonder how many 7-year-olds from Europe, Russia, UK…have died while in Border Patrol custody. https://t.co/4x0A6nIQuE
— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) December 14, 2018
Okay…maybe Europeans don’t die from dehydration and exhaustion while in Border Patrol custody because people from Europe don’t trek across a continent to get to our southern border.
Food for thought.
There’s a continuous mantra of the Left, and one I can’t understand — they talk of “dehumanizing” the migrants. It isn’t dehumanizing to say immigration laws must be followed. I don’t mean to set that up as a straw man, but what the heck else are they referencing?
This is what happens when people are relentlessly dehumanized: their lives become disposable.#JackelineCaal, the 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died at in #CBP custody, did not receive medical care for 90 minutes after showing symptoms https://t.co/xbJ7qJJER3
— Julie Laumann (@Otpor17) December 14, 2018
There were some Twitter users who didn’t fall for the baseless suggestion of U.S. guilt:
She died because of the trek, not because of border patrol. But I get that’s not the point you want people to take from this headline. https://t.co/VpNDLgUklZ
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) December 14, 2018
The poor little girl died because her parents took her on a perilous, dangerous journey. She was dehydrated and in shock when the Border Patrol found her. Stop misrepresenting the facts! The border patrol is not at fault. https://t.co/D4rTWSRpCC
— Alana Stewart (@AlanaKStewart) December 14, 2018
The death of a little girl is dreadful. And the world is full of places less good than the U.S. For some reason, many on the Left seem to want to simultaneously denigrate our country while portraying it as a place to which everyone deserves to upgrade. Moreover, despite their insistence, conservatives have empathy just as do liberals; wanting the law to be obeyed does not function to the contrary. Just ask Bill Clinton, as seen in the video below. Meanwhile, the hardship of travel comes from distance, time, resources, and the choice to make the journey. Furthermore, fault lies with those who, from this side of the border (and the other), convinced thousands that the U.S. was ripe for entry outside of legal immigration (here).
A little girl has been lost. And it wasn’t her fault. It also wasn’t the fault of the Land of Opportunity or its laws and their enforcement. It was the fault of something worse. Something I hope never happens again.
Relevant RedState links in this article: here.
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