Guatemalan boy dies after being detained by US border agents

An eight-year-old Guatemalan migrant boy died shortly after midnight on Tuesday (December 25) after being detained by US border agents, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement, the second migrant child this month to die in US detention.

The boy and his father were in CBP custody on Dec. 24 when a Border Patrol agent noticed the child showing signs of illness, CBP said. The father and son were taken to the Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where the boy was diagnosed with a common cold and fever, and eventually released by hospital staff.

But later that evening, the boy began vomiting and was transferred back to the hospital. He died at the hospital shortly after midnight, CBP said, adding that the official cause of death is not known.

The father and son were not identified, and the agency said it will release more details "as available and appropriate." Guatemalan officials have been notified of the death, CBP said. The Guatemalan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.