Senate Democrats were caught this week trying to rehabilitate an old grievance and use a three-year-old tragedy to mobilize more opposition to the Trump administration's enforcement of federal immigration law.

On Tuesday, Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee shared a picture of 8-year-old illegal alien Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, noting she "died in government custody."

'It's really f**ked up how Trump let her die in 2023.'

"She had sickle cell and congenital heart disease but couldn't access timely and adequate medical care," said the Democrats' post on X. "We need to reform immigration detention."

However, Democrats neglected to mention that Anadith died on the Biden-Harris administration's watch in 2023, when the southern border was effectively open and border facilities were overwhelmed.

Anadith, a girl with a heart condition who was born in Panama to Honduran migrants, was brought illegally into the U.S. on May 9, 2023. While waiting for a deportation flight to Honduras with her mother, father, and two siblings in a Customs and Border Protection facility in Harlingen, Texas, the girl experienced a medical emergency and died.

CBP indicated that during her intake at the Donna Processing Facility in Donna, Texas, the girl was medically assessed and "did not complain of any acute illnesses or injuries." Days later, however, she "voiced complaints of abdominal pain, nasal congestion, and cough" and was "prescribed and administered doses of Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), as well as Ondansetron (Zofran)."

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Former Biden spokesman Andrew Bates. Photographer: Oliver Contreras/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Following agency protocols, the family was moved to Harlingen, which was used specifically for cases requiring medical isolation. At the Harlingen facility, the girl continued to receive medical attention and medication; however, her condition worsened. After her mother's unsuccessful requests for an ambulance, the girl suffered a seizure. She was taken to Valley Baptist Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on May 17, 2023.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee — several of whom have advocated for cuts to Department of Homeland Security funding — claimed in a minority staff report last year that CBP facilities are chronically understaffed and that "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."

Democrats concern-mongered in their report that "more individuals and children may die" under the Trump administration.

As with their January 2025 minority report, Senate Democrats' Tuesday tweet appears aimed at exploiting a tragedy that occurred under the previous Democrat administration — and under a homeland security secretary Democrats refused to impeach — to condemn the current administration.

One critic, EV Partners founder Robert Sterling, wrote in response to the Democrats' viral tweet, "Man it's really f**ked up how Trump let her die in 2023."

Conservative writer Brian Pfail noted, "I'm not one for party politics, but this is an outright disgusting grievance post to emotionalize views on border enforcement. Low-information liberals will attribute this to the Trump admin, yet it was Biden. To them, none of these deaths are valued beyond political fervor."

As other critics began to pile on, Biden's former deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates reflexively worked on damage control, writing, "Not about Democrat or Republican/left or right. Just absolutely wrong."

Republican operative Tim Murtaugh said in response, "What’s remarkable, Andrew, is the level of pride you must have felt when posting this, completely unaware that it had happened while you worked in the White House yourself. Just remarkable. Top notch work from beginning to end."

Bates dug in his heels, writing, "I stand by what I said. It's horrible and shouldn't have happened."

"What makes me proud is that the American people are rejecting the cruelty that ICE is forcing on Americans and immigrants, putting all of us in danger," added the former Biden spokesman, who does not appear to have spoken out at the time of Anadith's death.

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