President Donald Trump spoke to the nation and implored Congress to take action on the growing crisis at the southern border that is not only resulting in thousands of Americans losing their lives, but is also quickly turning into a public health crisis.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer called the crisis at the southern border a “manufactured crisis.” This is absolutely false as both Customs and Border Protection agents and their fellow Democratic lawmakers have pointed out there is, indeed, a crisis at the southern border.
Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan reports a number of migrants are bringing pneumonia, tuberculosis, and parasites into the United States as they attempt to cross the border illegally.
“Many were ill before they departed their homes. We’re talking about cases of pneumonia, tuberculosis, parasites. These are not things that developed urgently in a matter of days.” McAleenan reported.
According to the Washington Times, border agents are “referring 50 people a day for urgent medical care, including tuberculosis, flu and even pregnant women about to give birth.” McAleenan reports that 17 people were still hospitalized.
McAleenan’s report regarding the numerous diseases coming into the United States due to the southern border crisis comes just days after two young children died in CBP custody.
A young Guatemalan girl named Jakelin Caal was smuggled across the border near the Antelope Wells port of entry in New Mexico when her and around 160 other people turned themselves into Border Patrol agents. The girl’s father informed authorities she was healthy and signed a document indicating she was in good health. While the document was in English, Border Patrol agents read it to him in Spanish.
Caal and her father then boarded a bus to Lordsburg, which was a 90-minute trip. She soon began vomiting and lost consciousness. Her temperature had also risen to 105.7 degrees Fahrenheit and she had to be revived twice by emergency medical technicians. After arriving in Lordsburg, Caal was flown to a hospital in El Paso, Texas, where she died the following day.
After Caal’s death an eight year-old boy, Felipe Gomez Alonzo, from Guatemala, also passed away in the custody of U.S. immigration personnel. The boy was admitted to Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, New Mexico, where he was diagnosed with a common cold and given prescriptions for amoxicillin and ibuprofen. However, he soon began exhibiting “nausea and vomiting and was transferred back” to the hospital according to CBP. His cause of death is unknown, but CBP promised “an independent and thorough review of the circumstances.”
Democratic congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small recently toured the Alamagordo facility where she called for more medical equipment in the most rural parts of the border.
“We still need to have medical equipment in all of our facilities in the most rural reaches of the border to make sure that we have a border patrol that is responding to the changing circumstances that we’re seeing.”
Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, also indicated there is a humanitarian crisis at the southern border: “There is a humanitarian crisis at our southern border, and the policies of the Trump administration are making the crisis more tragic.”
These deaths probably won’t be isolated incidents. McAleenan reports that since December 22, 2018, there were 450 medical cases requiring treatment. Those cases involved flu, parasites, blood infections, abscesses, tuberculosis, and pneumonia.
Migrants bringing disease and illnesses into the United States is not a new occurrence. This crisis has gone on for years. Back in 2014 there was an outbreak of chickenpox and other communicable diseases. The radical left wing website Slate reported that 2014 saw the resurgence of Dengue fever. It was the first time the mosquito-borne disease, whose symptoms include fatigue, fever, and pain in the bones and muscles, was reported in Texas since 2005. They suspected the cause was from illegal immigrants from Mexico. Slate would declare there was a public health crisis at the border back in 2014.
There is a definitive crisis at the southern border and it doesn’t just involve illegal immigrants who have come into the United States and committed horrendous crimes. It doesn’t just involve abuse of women and children. It’s a health crisis too and Democratic lawmakers and even radical left-wing websites admit it.
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are DEAD wrong when they call the real crisis at the border “manufactured.”