Lindsey Graham promises to hold hearings on deaths of two migrant children at border

Lindsey Graham, the Republican Senator set to be the next chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Sunday that he plans to hold hearings after two migrant children died in Border Patrol custody.

"Yeah, I'm going to hold hearings on the deaths of these two children and the policies that entice people to come," he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

This month, two Guatemalan children — 7-year-old Jakelin Caal and 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo — have died in Border Patrol custody after not getting proper medical care.

The agency announced that it would institute a new policy and require secondary medical exams of all children in its custody, but President Trump blamed Democrats for the deaths.

“Any deaths of children or others at the Border are strictly the fault of the Democrats and their pathetic immigration policies that allow people to make the long trek thinking they can enter our country illegally,” he tweeted Saturday. “They can’t. If we had a Wall, they wouldn’t even try!”

Last week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the deaths.

"These heartbreaking incidents are sadly consistent with previous reports of widespread abuse of children in immigration custody and the judgment of medical and mental health organizations that Border Patrol facilities are not adequately staffed or equipped to properly care for children," she wrote in a letter to Graham.

A group of key Democrats, including Rep. Joaquín Castro (D-Tex.) and Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.), also called on Congress to investigate both deaths.

"Democrats call on Homeland Security’s Inspector General to immediately open an investigation into Felipe Alzono-Gomez’s death,” incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. “The Congress will also investigate this tragedy and the heartbreaking death of Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin, to seek justice and ensure that no other child is left to such a fate.”

Across networks Sunday, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan called the deaths “absolutely devastating” but defended his department.

“What I can tell you about these two cases — and I’ve looked at our operation reporting, the initial investigative reporting, I looked at the fathers’ statements and interviews — is that our agents did everything they could as soon as these children manifested symptoms of illness to save their lives,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

McAleenan also said he’s allocating more funding toward “medical care and mental health care for children entering our custody.”