Addressing Girl Who Died In Custody, Nielsen Harps On ‘Dangers’ Of Illegal Crossing

Kirstjen Nielsen on "Fox and Friends" Dec. 14, 2018.
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While addressing a question about the death of a 7-year-old migrant girl — who died of shock and dehydration while in Border Patrol custody — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen harped on the “dangers of this journey.”

She called the death “heart-wrenching,” but said it was “a very sad example” of what can happen when immigrants “choose to come here illegally.”

“This family chose to cross illegally, what happened here is they were about 90 miles away from where we could process them,” she told “Fox and Friends” Friday morning. “They came in such a large crowd, it took our border patrol folks a couple times to get them all. We gave immediate care, we’ll continue to look into the situation, but again, I cannot stress (enough) how dangerous this journey is when migrants choose to come here illegally.”

Placing blame on the “journey” for the child’s death is a talking point that others in the administration have embraced. Speaking to reporters on Friday, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said the death was “tragic,” but called it “100 percent preventable,” according to The Washington Post.

“Does the administration take responsibility for a parent taking a child on a trek through Mexico to get to this country? No,” he said.

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