McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — An investigation is being launched after a Cuban woman who was seeking asylum in the United States died in custody at a processing facility in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced.
The woman died on Jan. 2 after being booked into the Firefly Soft Sided Processing Facility located in Maverick County, north of Eagle Pass, according to a CBP news release.
She told Border Patrol agents that she had high blood pressure and was on medication. The agency says a nurse practitioner assessed the woman at 1:33 p.m., nearly two hours after she was initially medically screened at the facility.
Half an hour later, at 2:09 p.m. “the woman collapsed on the ground near two other female migrants … lying on the floor underneath a bench,” according to a CBP news release.
A defibrillator was used on the woman and EMT and Fire Department personnel arrived to administer aid, CBP said.
The incident is under review by the Maverick County Justice of the Peace, and CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General also has been notified of the death, CBP officials said.
Eagle Pass is part of the Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector, which in Fiscal Year 2022 surpassed the Rio Grande Valley as having the most migrant encounters of any sector on the Southwest border.
