(Trends Wide) — A 17-year-old unaccompanied Honduran migrant, who was staying in a Florida shelter, died this Wednesday under the care of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), which belongs to the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, for its acronym in English), according to a notification from Congress obtained by Trends Wide on Friday.
HHS takes care of unaccompanied migrant minors and places them in shelters across the country.
The 17-year-old was assigned to Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services in Safety Harbor, Florida, on May 5, according to the notice.
The teenager was taken to Safety Harbor’s Mease Countryside Hospital on Wednesday morning after he was found unconscious. He was pronounced dead an hour later, despite resuscitation attempts.
The parents and the minor’s sponsor were notified of the death, according to the notice. The death is now being investigated by a medical examiner and ORR has indicated that it will continue to receive information from the care provider.
In a statement, HHS said it is “deeply saddened by this tragic loss” and is in contact with the teen’s family. According to the department, a forensic medical investigation is underway.
The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, also mourned the death of the child and said that “our hearts go out to the family.” Jean-Pierre directed specific questions about the case to HHS.
Eduardo Enrique Reina, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Honduras, expressed his condolences in a Tweet this Thursday.
“The Government of Honduras, through the embassy in Washington, is in contact with the family and has asked ORR and HHS to carry out a thorough investigation of the case to clarify it and obtain full accountability if there is any responsible,” he said.
There were 8,681 unaccompanied minors in custody of the Department of Health, according to figures from this Wednesday. However, that number fluctuates daily and peaked at more than 14,000 during the 2021 surge of unaccompanied minors.
Another unaccompanied immigrant minor died in government custody in March
An unaccompanied immigrant minor died in HHS custody in mid-March, according to a congressional notice obtained by Trends Wide.
In its notice, the entity described the 4-year-old girl from Honduras as “medically fragile.” And she added that she had been admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan, after suffering cardiac arrest.
“Upon admission, the PICU physician informed ORR’s Division of Unaccompanied Minor Health that the girl showed no signs of brain activity,” the notice read.
“Based on this result, the PICU physician planned to wait 24 hours and then begin the process of evaluating her for brain death. This required two separate brain death examinations, 12 to 24 hours apart. The first of these exams occurred at approximately 3:00 a.m. on March 17, 2023. As the second exam could not be completed due to the child’s unstable condition, a blood flow test was completed which confirmed brain death.” added the report.
The 4-year-old girl was pronounced dead that same day. Her biological father was by her side and was informed of her condition and her plan of care, according to her notification. Congress was informed shortly after her death.
Trends Wide has contacted the Department of Health for comment.
Rosa Flores, Florencia Trucco and Rebekah Riess, all from Trends Wide, contributed to this story.
