The former President of Mexico said Donald Trump is to blame for the death of a Guatemalan girl who was arrested with her father at the US-Mexico border.
Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin, 7, died in an El Paso hospital on December 8, 27 hours after she was arrested with her father, 29-year-old Nery Caal, and 163 others trying to enter the US at the Antelope Wells Port of Entry in New Mexico.
In a statement released by lawyers, Jakelin’s family said the girl appeared to be in good health as she traveled through Mexico, but began vomiting after becoming dehydrated when they were apprehended at the border.
Now Vicente Fox criticized US President for his ‘lack of love and compassion’, saying his policies are to blame for the migrant crisis and the child’s death.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox (left) has criticized Donald Trump (right) for his tough stance on Central American migrants and the death of Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7
Jakelin Caal Maquin died in an El Paso hospital on December 8, two days after she was arrested with her father and 163 others trying to enter the US at the Antelope Wells Port of Entry in New Mexico
Fox, was Mexico’s President from 2000- 2006. He told TMZ: ‘This is very sad and it’s not the only case, there are plenty more.
‘This is not what the US is all about, this is what Trump is all about . He doesn’t have any love or care or compassion to anybody.
‘I don’t know why this nation has a president like him, we all miss the united states that we have known for years and years.
Fox said he hoped the US people ‘get rid’ of Trump soon as America has changed drastically since he began his presidency.
Vicente Fox, who was President of Mexico from 2000 – 2006 criticized US President for his ‘lack of love and compassion’, saying his policies are to blame for the migrant crisis
He added: ‘The [US was] a leader in the world, a compassionate nation , a nation that cares and builds a better world , so I hope you get rid of trump soon.
‘The language is more aggressive than physical violence, speaking the way Trump speaks is not good for this nation.
‘So Senor Trump please correct, you’re harming not only the same citizens of the United States but everyone around the world.
‘Please change and change soon because you’re not going to be there for long’.
Asked who was to blame for the death of Jakelin Caal, he added: ‘First the people that was involved directly but they act on orders from somebody else and so you have to go all the way to the top’.
US border patrol officials have maintained that agents did everything they could to save Jakelin after the girl began deteriorating, despite reports that she had stopped breathing more than an hour before she was taken to a hospital.
An initial screening allegedly showed no evidence of health problems and Jakelin’s father signed a form indicating she was in good health.
However, the family has taken issue with that form because it was in English, a language her father doesn’t speak or read. He communicated with border agents in Spanish but he primarily speaks the Mayan Q’eqchi’ language.
‘It is unacceptable for any government agency to have persons in custody sign documents in a language that they clearly do not understand,’ a statement from the family lawyer said.
Jakelin’s family is urging authorities to conduct an ‘objective and thorough’ investigation into the death and to determine whether officials met standards for the arrest and custody of children.
Jakelin’s grandfather Domingo Caal told CNN en Español: ‘It really hurts. Honestly, it’s hard to take in’
Jakelin’s family (pictured) is now mourning her death from 2,000 miles away in the remote Mayan Q’eqchi’ community of Raxruhá, Guatemala
Protests erupted in El Paso on Saturday as dozens of demonstrators took to the streets demanding justice for Jakelin
Two thousand miles away in Jakelin’s hometown San Antonio Secortez, a remote Mayan Q’eqchi’ community with 420 inhabitants within the municipality of Raxruhá, Guatemala, the girl’s family has begun to mourn her death.
A heart, constructed out of wood and wrapped in plastic, sits outside the tiny wooden house with a straw roof, dirt floors, a few bedsheets and a fire pit for cooking where Jakelin used to sleep with her parents and three siblings, aged nine, five and six-months.
‘It really hurts,’ the girl’s grandfather, Domingo Caal, told CNN en Español. ‘Honestly, it’s hard to take in.’
Caal told the network of how Jakelin had jumped up and down when her father told her that they’d be heading for America. He bought his favorite daughter her first pair of shoes before the journey.
Caal said his son decided to leave Guatemala because he was tired of living in extreme poverty – as the family was surviving on just $5 a day made harvesting corn and beans.
‘He wanted to work, because he said he could make a better living there,’ Caal said.
He also translated for Jakelin’s mother Claudia Maquin, who said through tears in a Mayan dialect: ‘Every time they ask me what happened to the girl, it hurts me again.’
The mother said she hopes her husband is able to remain in the US to work and eventually make enough money to pay the debt they racked up by paying a human smuggler to sneak the pair into America.
Speaking through tears in a Mayan dialect, Jakelin’s mother Claudia Maquin said: ‘Every time they ask me what happened to the girl, it hurts me again.’ Pictured: Maquin holds a photo of Jakelin in one hand with one the girl’s three siblings in the other
Jakelin’s cousin Carlos Rigoberto Caal Cux, 23, is seen reading a newspaper article about her death on Saturday in Raxruha
A heart constructed out of wood and wrapped in plastic announces Jakelin’s death in her hometown San Antonio Secortez
Claudia Maquin, 27, sits on a wooden bed while speaking to journalists on Saturday alongside her three children, five-year-old Elvis Radamel Aquiles, left, nine-year-old Abdel Johnatan Domingo, center, and six-month-old Angela Surely Mariela, right
Jakelin was the second-oldest child in the Caal Maquin family. Her siblings Elvis, Angela and Abdel are seen above left to right
Members of the Caal Maquin family and neighbors stand outside Claudia Maquin’s house in Raxruha, Guatemala, on Saturday
Jakelin’s grandmother Elvira Choc, 59, rests her head on her hand in front of her house on Saturday in Ruxruha
The home where Jakelin used to sleep with her parents and three siblings is pictured as neighbors pay a visit on Saturday
Heartbroken mother Maquin is seen walking home barefoot with her three children
The family’s statement on Saturday said: ‘Jakelin and her father came to the US seeking something that thousands have been seeking for years – an escape from the dangerous situation in their home country.
‘This was their right under US and international law. But it is a journey that had resulted in tragedy.
‘The family is seeking an objective and thorough investigation and are asking that investigators will assess this incident within nationally recognised standards for the arrest and custody of children.
‘The family intends to assist in such an investigation into the cause and circumstances of Jakelin’s death.’
Loved ones aren’t the only ones looking for answers in the girl’s death. Members of Congress and immigration advocates say Jakelin’s death raises serious questions about the way migrants are treated at the border.
There were only four agents working with a group of 163 migrants, including 50 unaccompanied children, and only one bus to take them to the nearest station 94 miles away.
The Homeland Security Department’s inspector general has opened an investigation.
Dozens of protesters took to the streets in El Paso on Saturday demanding justice for Jakelin.
A woman can be seen holding up a sign with the words ‘demand an investigation’ written across a photo of Jakelin
A demonstrator holds up a poster with Jakelin’s figure surrounded by a floral pattern in El Paso on Saturday
A woman holds a sign with the words: Jakelin Amei Rosemery Caal will not be forgotten’ during Saturday’s protests
Another protester’s sign declares: ‘Trump’s zero-tolerance policy is killing children’