Chaffetz: Message From Tragic Death of 7-Year-Old Migrant Girl Should Be ‘Don’t Make This Journey, It Will Kill You’

Josh FeldmanDec 15th, 2018, 11:19 am

As the national outcry over the death of a 7-year-old girl in border patrol custody continues, former congressman and current Fox News contributor Jason Chaffetz said this tragedy shows why people shouldn’t be making the journey in the first place.

Jakelin Caal Maquin started having seizures eight hours after she and her father were taken into custody, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which said in a statement she died in the hospital and “reportedly had not eaten or consumed water for several days.”

There has, of course, been a lot of outrage over her death, and the DHS inspector general’s office announced there will be an investigation.

Last night Chaffetz, filling in for Sean Hannity, criticized Democrats for politicizing the issue and said, “I think the message should be, ‘Stay there, stay in your country of origin, go to the embassy…’ That’s the moral message that should be there. That’s the problem. I get the sense that Democrats are saying ‘come on up and apply.'”

He discussed with the panel what the solution is and what the message needs to be before concluding by saying, “The sad reality is we have a 7-year-old girl who has died and she should have never, ever made that journey. And that should be the message. Don’t make this journey, it will kill you. That should be the message.”

Chaffetz got a lot of criticism after the clip of his comments was first flagged by Media Matters, including from MSNBC’s Chris Hayes: