UNIED STATES: US orders medical checks after migrant children die 

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has ordered medical checks on every child in its custody after an eight-year-old boy from Guatemala died, marking the second death of a child in the agency’s care this month. The death came during an ongoing dispute over border security and with a partial government shutdown under way over […]

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has ordered medical checks on every child in its custody after an eight-year-old boy from Guatemala died, marking the second death of a child in the agency’s care this month.

The death came during an ongoing dispute over border security and with a partial government shutdown under way over President Donald Trump’s request for border wall funding.

The boy, identified by Guatemalan authorities as Felipe Gomez Alonzo, had been in CBP’s custody with his father, Agustin Gomez, since December 18. CBP said in a statement late Tuesday that an agent first noticed the boy had a cough and “glossy eyes” at about 9am Monday. He was eventually hospitalised twice and died just before midnight, the agency said.