Carlos Gregorio Hernandez-Vasquez

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The eighth soul in my En Memoriam project honoring asylum seekers who did not survive the rigors of the American border.

Carlos Gregorio Hernandez-Vasquez, Age 16
from Guatemala
Died May 20, 2019,
​Texas

Carlos died in Border Patrol custody while trying to reunite with family members in the United States. He was also venturing north to support his siblings, one of whom is disabled. 1 of 9 children from an area of extreme poverty in the Guatemalan Highlands, he was a soccer player, a musician who played bass and piano, and a healthy young man, his family told a Guatemalan television station. 

Hernandez succumbed to the flu, complicated by pneumonia and sepsis, on or near the toilet of his South Texas Border Patrol cell. His body was returned to Guatemala.

​More of Carlos' story HERE. ​

Photo source: Courtesy of family (via web)

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New Report Shows “Deeply Troubling Failures” by Border Patrol in Boy’s Death, Key Congressional Leader Says
​ProPublica, Sept. 17, 2021

Inside the Cell Where a Sick 16-Year-Old Boy Died in Border Patrol Care
ProPublica, Dec. 5, 2019​

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