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Doctor: Migrant children who died in U.S. custody could've been saved
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Doctor: Migrant children who died in U.S. custody could've been saved

Two migrant children who died in U.S. custody in 2018 could've been saved had CBP agents taken appropriate steps, say letters from a doctor given to Congress.

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Two migrant children who died in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in late 2018 could have been saved had agents taken the appropriate steps to ensure their medical care, according to letters from a pediatric physician and professor at Harvard Medical School that were submitted to Congress on Wednesday and obtained by NBC News.

Felipe Gomez Alonzo, 8, and Jakelin Caal, 7, both from Guatemala, died from the flu and sepsis respectively while in U.S. Border Patrol custody shortly after crossing into the U.S. with their fathers in December 2018.

At the time, Customs and Border Protection said the remote locations in which the children arrived and the arduous journeys they had endured complicated their medical care, relieving border agents of any blame in their deaths.