A $15 million federal wrongful death lawsuit has been filed on behalf of an eight-year-old child who was being held by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the time of her death. The lawsuit was brought forward by three nonprofit organizations; the Texas Civil Rights Project, the Texas A&M University School of Law Civil Rights Clinic, and the Haitian Bridge Alliance.

In 2023, the 8-year-old child, Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, was being held in a processing facility in the border town of Harlingen, Texas. The girl and her family had entered the U.S. through an illegal crossing at the Rio Grande, resulting in their detention on May 9, 2023. The young girl was detained for over a week and was sick the entire time before succumbing to her deteriorating medical condition on May 17th.

The Panamanian-born girl was identified as having a heart condition and sickle cell disease. . While in custody at the detention facility, she had a recorded fever of 104.9°F and was held in isolation, partly because of her health condition.

The federal lawsuit filed on her behalf details that she was not afforded the care she was legally entitled to and was instead treated inhumanely. After she contracted the flu, in part due to the deteriorating conditions of the detention facility, alleges the lawsuit, she was repeatedly denied adequate care, an action that would ultimately lead to her death.

The young girl’s mother, Mabel Estanislada Alvarez Benedicks, is reported to have pleaded with CBP officers, who repeatedly ignored her pleas and failed to call an ambulance for her daughter. Furthermore, CBP officers refused to inform the on call physician and the on call pediatrician at the now closed detention facility. It was not until her final days that an ambulance was called, after the young girl suffered a seizure. When she arrived at the hospital, she was subsequently pronounced dead. The lawsuit claims that had she received the life-saving treatment she needed, she would still be alive today.

Although the young girl was born in Panama, her family originates from Honduras, the country they fled due to persecution. The family is ethnically Garifuna, an Afro Indigenous population that has a history of discrimination and persecution in Honduras.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and CBP.

Photo Source: Courtesy of the Alvarez family via CBS News

In response to the allegations, CBP stated that the girl should have been hospitalized for emergency care, but the contracted medical care providers failed to do so.

An investigation into the young girl’s death followed, and in 2025, the findings were published by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which included a statement that read in part, “The circumstances that resulted in Anadith’s death were unfortunately not an aberration, but indicative of systemic problems with the provision of medical care in CBP facilities and CBP’s broader failure to properly oversee that care.”

Both the Texas Civil Rights Project and the Haitian Bridge Alliance petitioned the court for access to more information regarding her death. According to court records, they found that the girl’s death was entirely preventable.

Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, shared in a statement, “CBP’s refusal to provide Anadith the medical care she needed was cruel and inhumane. We are seeking justice for Anadith’s memory and fighting for a future where no parent’s child dies in their arms in CBP custody. CBP must act now to prevent another tragedy like this.”

Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, added, “It is unconscionable that a young girl was denied the medical care she desperately needed.”

The lawsuit details numerous claims, including failures by CBP officers to fulfill their duties to ensure the young girl’s health and well being. It also alleges that the federal government knew about unsanitary and overcrowded conditions that resulted in poor health quality and limited access to healthcare services—factors that contributed to her death.

Additional claims include negligent undertaking of duties, negligent supervision of medical staff, and more. Considering all damages, including personal injury and emotional distress, the federal lawsuit is seeking $15 million in wrongful death damages.