Autopsy Set for Migrant Girl, 7, Who Died in Border Custody

By COLLEEN LONG and ASTRID GALVAN, Associated Press

A U.S. Border Patrol agent patrols Sunland Park along the U.S.-Mexico border next to Ciudad Juarez on Jan. 4, 2016. The New Mexico border town, next to El Paso, Texas, has struggled to put a series of national scandals behind it until two city councilors were recently arrested. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Immigration officials say an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death of a 7-year-old migrant girl who suffered seizures in custody and later died.

Officials say the girl was found Dec. 6 near Lordsburg, New Mexico, by U.S. Border Patrol agents. They say the girl was taken into custody for about eight hours and then began having seizures.

Emergency medical technicians discovered her fever was 105.7 degrees Fahrenheit (40.9 degrees Celsius). The Guatemalan girl was airlifted to an El Paso, Texas, hospital, where she died.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Friday the girl was traveling with her father, fixing an error in an earlier statement that said she was unaccompanied. The Washington Post reported Thursday she had been traveling with her father, citing the same federal agency.

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Galvan reported from Phoenix.

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Autopsy Set for Migrant Girl, 7, Who Died in Border Custody

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