GUATEMALA: The death of two Guatemalan children in the United States within weeks of each other has highlighted why there are so many children among Central American migrants heading north: smugglers tell them families have a better chance of being allowed in by US border guards, witnesses told media.
Agustin Gomez was one such migrant who decided to risk the trip.
Gomez’s relatives in his western, mainly indigenous municipality of Nenton near the Mexican border said he had heard rumors that bringing along his eight-year-old son Felipe might ease his way.
Felipe died in a New Mexico hospital on Christmas Day, only a week after they were both detained by Texas border guards after crossing the border illegally.
US authorities investigating the case say Felipe died after presenting with flu symptoms.
Just two weeks earlier, Guatemala had been rocked by the death of seven-year-old indigenous girl Jakelin Caal, admitted to hospital suffering from dehydration.
She made the journey alongside her 29-year-old father Nery from the Mayan town of Raxruha in northern Guatemala.
Though the surge of Guatemalan migrants to the US-Mexico border is caused largely by the country’s dire poverty and violence, Guatemalan migration activist Roxana Palma, told media there are messages circulating on social media that carrying children gives a greater “guarantee” of establishing themselves in the United States.
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