A 15-year-old girl died in the custody of the U.S. refugee agency while being treated for a "significant, pre-existing illness," federal health officials said Tuesday.
The girl was declared dead Monday morning "as a result of multi-organ failure due to complications of her underlying disease," the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
Officials did not offer details on the disease. The unnamed teenager from Guatemala was in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, a Health and Human Services agency.
Though her mother and her brother were at her side at El Paso Children's Hospital in Texas during her last moments and days, the teenager was described by the department as an unaccompanied child.
Health officials said the Office of Refugee Resettlement was not directing the girl's day-to-day care when she died.
"While the child remained in ORR custody, medical treatment was provided according to the mother’s wishes and aligned with the recommendations of the hospital’s health care provider team," it said.
It is not clear when she reached the border. Health and Human Services said she was referred to refugee officials in May, when she was already at El Paso's Children Hospital for her illness.
Her condition started to deteriorate Friday, the department said. "Our heart goes out to the family at this difficult time," it said.
The El Paso-based nonprofit Border Network for Human Rights expressed condolences to the teen's family as it criticized federal policy on migrants and refugees.
The group said in a statement Tuesday that it was the fourth death of a migrant child in federal custody this year.
"These incidents are part of an aggravated systemic failure that disregards the rights and well-being of refugees and migrants," said the group’s executive director, Fernando García, who acknowledged the child had pre-existing conditions and was getting care.
The organization is calling on the federal government to develop "welcoming centers" along the U.S.-Mexico border to provide migrants with medical care, housing, food and legal services.
