EXCLUSIVE: GOP Doctors Caucus Demands Information On Migrants’ COVID-19 Infections
EXCLUSIVE: GOP Doctors Caucus Demands Information On Migrants’ COVID-19 Infections
MICHAEL GINSBERG AND HENRY RODGERS CONTRIBUTOR
July 30, 2021 10:47 AM ET
Thirteen Republicans in the House of Representatives are demanding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) provide data on COVID-19 infection rates among migrants who present themselves at the U.S.’s Southern Border.
“We are deeply disturbed about the lack of transparency coming from the Biden Administration. Americans deserve to know whether migrants are being tested for COVID-19 at the border,” the Republicans said in the letter, obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller.
They are requesting that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas provide information about COVID-19 testing procedures at the southern border, as well as how his agency is working to protect border patrol agents and other Americans from infections brought by migrants. Mayorkas testified to Congress in March that he could not determine whether or not migrants who were sick with COVID-19 were admitted into the country.
Signatories to the letter include North Carolina Rep. Greg Murphy, Tennessee Rep. Scott DesJarlais, Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Texas Reps. Michael Burgess, Brian Babin, and Ronny Jackson, Georgia Rep. Buddy Carter, Florida Rep. Neal Dunn, Ohio Rep. Brad Wenstrup, New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, Maryland Rep. Andy Harris, Pennsylvania Rep. John Joyce and Indiana Rep. Larry Bucshon.
The letter writers also expressed concern that the Biden administration is considering revoking Title 42, a public health measure that allows DHS to rapidly expel migrants on public health grounds. They describe the move as “a drastic miscalculation that, in our medical opinion, would likely exacerbate the COVID-19 public health crisis.”
Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) encountered more than one million illegal immigrants along the U.S.’s Southern Border in 2021, including 188,829 in June alone. In the week between July 19-25, CBP detained 20,000 illegal migrants in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley.
“As a physician of more than 30 years, I am deeply concerned about the public health impact of untested and unvaccinated migrants coming across our Southern Border,” Murphy told the Daily Caller. “It is clear that COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon, so it is up to us to take the necessary precautions to safeguard our communities and ensure that illegal immigrants are not transporting new strains of the virus around our country.”
“I am proud to lead this letter to Secretary Mayorkas demanding answers. The American people deserve to know what percentage of migrants are being tested for COVID-19 at the border, and what percentage of migrants are being allowed to enter the U.S. without a COVID-19 test. How many of the 188,829 migrants who came to our border in the last month were transmitting the virus?”
“The Biden Administration currently requires international travelers flying into the U.S. to wear a mask and show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before entering the country, yet they are allowing floods of untested migrants into our country without any regard for public safety. Instead of masking up vaccinated Americans, I suggest that Biden Administration turn their attention to the biggest threat to public safety: the public health crisis at our Southern Border. To control the spread, we must control our border.”
https://dailycaller.com/2021/07/30/d...l-immigration/
