Graham says he will hold hearings on deaths of children in CBP custody

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that he plans to hold hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee on the deaths of two children in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody.

“I’m going to hold hearings on the deaths of these two children and the policies that entice people to come,” Graham, who will likely be the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

{mosads}Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the committee, last week called on Graham to hold hearings on the deaths of Jakelin Caal Maquin and Felipe Gómez Alonzo, saying that the Judiciary Committee is “uniquely situated to examine these issues.”

CBP officials said last week that Gómez, an 8-year old Guatemalan boy, died in the agency’s custody, having been pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital in New Mexico.

His death followed the death of another Guatemalan child, 7-year-old Caal, while in CBP custody earlier this month. 

Investigations into both deaths are currently ongoing, and Democrats have said they will open further investigations after they gain control of the House this week.

Graham also said on CNN that any deal to reopen the government, which has been partially shut down for nine days, hinges on border wall funding.

“So to my Democratic friends, there will never be a deal without wall funding and many Republicans are going to offer something as an incentive to vote wall funding that you have supported in the past.”

President Trump has demanded $5 billion for the wall, a central element of his presidential campaign.

— This report was updated at 1:16 p.m.