“17-Year-Old Honduran Migrant Dies in US Unaccompanied Minors Center | Latest News”

A Honduran teenager, who had crossed the border from the United States without his family, died in an American center for the care of unaccompanied minors in Safety Harbor, Florida, announced Friday May 12 the American and Honduran authorities.

Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina clarified on Twitter that the deceased teenager was called Angel Eduardo Maradiaga Espinoza and was 17 years old. He had been placed in the center on May 5. On May 10, he was found unconscious and transferred to a hospital, where resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful, Honduran authorities said.

An open investigation

The US Department of Health, whose agency takes care of unaccompanied minors, confirmed the death, without giving details. The ministry said “deeply saddened by this tragic loss” in a press release. “Our thoughts are with the family, with whom we are in contact”, he specified. US authorities have opened an investigation into the circumstances of the death.

This death occurs in a particularly tense context, linked to a change in United States migration policy, with the lifting of “Title 42”, a health measure introduced at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and which made it possible to deport without delays migrants. This change has prompted thousands of migrants this week to hurry to enter American territory, for fear of being penalized afterwards by the new rules.