Previously, I covered the sad plight of an 8-year-old boy who passed away under mysterious circumstances — and after his father oddly declined medical attention for him — while in U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody (here).

Now Felipe Gomez Alonzo’s mother is making a sizable confession regarding the boy’s 2,000 mile trek from his native Guatemala.

In an interview with Reuters, Catarina Alonzo admitted the boy’s father took him on the perilous journey across the continent in hopes his presence would make it easier to gain access to the U.S.

As relayed by Reuters:

Speaking at her home in a mountainous region of western Guatemala, Catarina Alonzo said neighbors had told the family that taking a child would provide her husband with a way in.

“Lots of them have gone with children and managed to cross, even if they’re held for a month or two. But they always manage to get across easily,” she told Reuters in an interview.

It almost didn’t happen:

Alonzo said her husband had doubts and at one point decided he did not want to take the boy. But that upset the boy, so they resolved he should go.

Apparently, such is a common practice:

Marta Larra, a spokeswoman for Guatemala’s Foreign Ministry, said smugglers known as “coyotes” often encourage migrants to take children as a form of “visa.” Many coyotes, she noted, are trusted by migrant families, so their word carries weight.

Obama’s “catch and release” is partly to blame:

Under U.S. law, families from countries that do not border the United States cannot be immediately deported, and because of a longstanding legal settlement, there are restrictions on how long U.S. authorities can detain migrant children.

As a result, families with children are often released to await an immigration court hearing, which can be scheduled well into the future due to ballooning backlogs.

U.S. President Donald Trump has tried to reverse the policy, which he calls “catch and release,” but has been blocked by lawsuits in federal court.

That “longstanding legal settlement,” by the way, is the reason for family separation at the border, despite claims of the Left to the contrary. The practice dates back to the Clinton-era Flores Settlement, which led to legislation by a Democratic Congress in 2006, and later to an interpretation by the left-wing 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Despite all of the above, Dems and the mainstream media have raged against the protocol as it’s existed under Republican Trump. Par for the course, I suppose, as part of the smoke and mirrors of politics.

So who is responsible for the death of 8-year-old Felipe? Some of the Left have blamed Trump for the terrible fate of a 7-year-old migrant girl who died from sepsis (see here). There are no doubt similar claims about Felipe.

It seems to me that — whatever the exact cause of the young boy’s passing, unless there was a ticking time bomb inside him — the tragedy was caused by a combination of factors, one doubtlessly being the rigorous journey he was taken upon, as somewhat of a pawn. And for that, we must lay partial blame on those who sold a lie: that a migrant caravan could pierce our perimeter, welcomed into the arms of sanctuary cities and politicians who — at least since the initiation of this presidency — stand opposed to the immigration laws of the United States of America. The Left’s marketing of lawlessness seduced thousands. And now, two little children are dead.

Relevant RedState links in this article: here and here.

See 3 more pieces from me: Melania’s anger over the media’s treatment of Barron, Islamic terrorism for Christmas, and Christian victory at a secular mall.

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below. For iPhone instructions, see the bottom of this page.

If you have an iPhone and want to comment, select the box with the upward arrow at the bottom of your screen; swipe left and choose “Request Desktop Site.” You may have to do this several times before the page reloads. Scroll down to the red horizontal bar that says “Show Comments.”