A Honduran teenager who crossed the border from the United States without his family died at a US center that cares for unaccompanied minors, US and Honduran authorities said on Friday.
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Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina clarified on Twitter that the late teenager’s name was Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza and he was 17 years old.
The youth died at a migrant care center in Safety Harbor, Fla., he said.
He had been housed there on May 5th. He was found unconscious on May 10 and taken to a hospital where attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, Honduran authorities said.
The US Department of Health and Human Services, which deals with unaccompanied minors, confirmed the death without giving details.
The ministry said in a statement it was “deeply saddened by this tragic loss”. “Our thoughts are with the family we are in contact with,” he said.
US authorities have launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death.
The White House, in the voice of its spokesman, described the death as “devastating news”.
“This terrible event highlights the importance of working together to find solutions on bilateral migration issues and the situation of unaccompanied minors,” commented Enrique Reina.
This death comes in a particularly tense context linked to a change in United States migration policy, with the repeal of “Title 42”, a health measure introduced at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic that allowed migrants to be deported without delay .
That change has prompted thousands of migrants to rush into American territory this week, fearing being penalized later by the new rules.