US Democrats turn blind eye on migrant children dying in custody

US Democrats have been largely quiet about the issue of asylum-seeking children dying in US custody on President Joe Biden's watch despite local and international media calling for their attention in this regard.

Last week, media reports said another refugee child died in Border Patrol custody as US agents ignored calls for medical attention.

The death of an 8-year-old girl in the custody of the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the southern state of Texas, just days after a 17-year-old boy died in Florida in the custody of the US Department of Health and Human Services, has raised human rights and children's rights activists' concerns.

Democratic lawmakers, however, seemed not to be stirred by the deaths, even though some of them voiced criticisms against the Trump administration in 2018 when two migrant children died in US custody.

Back then, they had demanded that the then-US president Donald Trump launch an official investigation into the cause of the children’s deaths to stop further occurrences in the future.

However, even during Joe Biden's presidency, the leftist lawmakers would remain largely quiet about the plight of hapless refugees arriving at the US border.

Rep. Lauren Underwood, an Illinois Democrat, said the fact that migrant children were dying while in custody in the United States was "unacceptable."

Asked in an interview on Face the Nation last Sunday about her viewpoint on migrant children dying in US custody, the Black lawmaker insisted that, "we shouldn't have children dying in our custody."

"And we have to continue to make sure that there is robust support along the border for those institutions—those agencies that are caring for migrant children, to making sure that they are getting the needed medical care. And I'm certainly focused on doing a thorough investigation of these deaths," Underwood added.

MG