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National Faith Leader Decries the Death of Immigrant Child in U.S. Custody

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 14, 2018

MEDIA CONTACT

Michelle Nealy, mnealy@faithinpubliclife.org, (202)735-7123

Mackenzie Harris, mharris@faithinpubliclife.org, (610)283-8879

National Faith Leader Decries the Death of Immigrant Child in U.S. Custody

Washington, D.C. — After being taken into Border Patrol custody in the New Mexico desert, a seven year old girl from Guatemala, Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin, died last week from exhaustion and dehydration. This death comes as the Border Patrol is under renewed scrutiny for conditions in it’s detention facilities and changes to asylum policy are forcing people seeking asylum to go to greater dangerous lengths to claim it.

Rev. Jennifer Butler, CEO, Faith in Public Life:

“The U.S. government is wholly responsible for the death of Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin. As a community of faith, we mourn for Jakelin’s family and for the soul of a nation that would compromise the wellbeing of a child. We must vehemently rebuke the sinful, unjust and cruel institutions which caused this death and bring a measure of compassion to our asylum regulations to meet our legal and moral obligations to protect those fleeing violence. When Jesus Christ was a toddler, his family fled violence in their home. If Jesus came today to our Southwestern border, his story could be the same as Jakelins.”

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Faith in Public Life is a national network of nearly 50,000 clergy and faith leaders united in the prophetic pursuit of justice and the common good.

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