Death of 7-year-old migrant girl on US border raises questions

WASHINGTON - Just 7 years old, Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin was picked up by US authorities with her father and other migrants this month in a remote stretch of New Mexico desert. Some seven hours later, she was put on a bus to the nearest Border Patrol station but soon began vomiting. By the end of the two-hour drive, she had stopped breathing.

Jakelin hadn't had anything to eat or drink for days, her father later told US officials.

The death of the Guatemalan girl is the latest demonstration of the desperation of a growing number of Central American families and children showing up at the United States-Mexico border, often hoping to claim asylum, and it raises new questions about how well authorities are prepared.