This is just a heart rending story.
Courthouse News
WASHINGTON (CN) – Yazmin Juarez’s 19-month-old daughter died after getting sick following her stay at an unsanitary immigration detention center in Texas. She told lawmakers her story Wednesday to shed light on the human toll behind the Trump administration’s immigration policy, leaving few dry eyes in the room.
Yazmin and her daughter, Mariee, made the trek from Guatemala to the United States last year. She was fleeing an abusive domestic situation, a scenario that she could not even describe, for her own protection, during a House Oversight subcommittee hearing on inhumane treatment of children at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“I was scared. But I made the journey because I feared for her life,” Juarez said in Spanish before a translator relayed the message to a silent group of lawmakers. “I was more scared of what would happen if we stayed. I wanted a new life for my family. Instead I watched my baby girl die slowly and painfully.”
Little Mariee was healthy when she and her mother were detained, but became sick after 20 days in detention. 10 days later she had lost 8% of her body weight and was vomiting constantly.
Yazmin pleaded for her daughter to be taken out for care, even offering to be handcuffed so she could accompany her. By the time she was taken to the hospital, where a viral lung infection was diagnosed, she was greatly weakened. Doctors fought for 6 weeks to save her but to no avail.
“My little girl suffered horrible pain. I couldn’t even hold her to console her. As a mother, I wish I could have taken her place,” Juarez said in tears.
Jazmin and Mariee in happier (and healthier) times before they became guests of the DHS:
Today Jazmin testified before Congress...
...and finally got the reception America should have given her on day one.
Sadly, Mariee could not be there.
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[cross-posted to PolitiZoom]