Despite the Trump administration’s attempt to halt immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, countless Latinos are still making the journey up north. Unfortunately, with the rough terrain, and little to no resources along the way, there have been tragedies.

On Thursday night, it was reported that Jackeline Caal, a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl, died of dehydration and exhaustion after being taken into U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody last week.  

According to CBP, the young girl and her father were a part of a large group who turned themselves in to immigration officials near Lordsburg, New Mexico, on December 6. The following morning, more than eight hours later, the girl began having seizures and had a temperature of 105.7 degrees. The CBP attributed the high fever to a lack of food and water in the days leading up.

After being transported to a children’s hospital in El Paso, the young girl went into cardiac arrest. Although she was reportedly revived twice, “the child did not recover and died at the hospital less than 24 hours after being transported,” the CBP told the Washington Post.

NBC News has added that while the large group was being transferred to a border station, Caal’s father asked for help. The 7-year-old was “ill and vomiting” but didn’t receive medical attention until an hour-and-a-half later when she was no longer breathing.

Meanwhile at the White House, Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley spoke about the case with reporters on Friday morning. “It’s a horrific, tragic situation,” he said, according to the Dallas News. “Obviously, our hearts go out to the family and to anyone who’s suffered any type of danger and peril that they see so often when they make that trek up from the southern border.”

But Gidley didn’t hold back when asked if the administration takes responsibility for the young girl’s death. “Does the administration take responsibility for a parent taking a child on a trek through Mexico to get to this country? No.”

What Gidley fails to realize is, parents aren’t taking children on a “trek” or a hike. They are making sacrifices in order to ensure their children will have an opportunity at a better life. The belief that the U.S. government’s duty only extends to its citizens and not to families seeking a better life is counterintuitive to its foundation. 

Several organizations have called for an in-depth investigation of the young girl’s death. The unidentified father is no longer in CBP custody and plans to meet with Guatemalan consular officials.