Thread: HPV vaccine mandated for green card applicants

HPV vaccine mandated for green card applicants

DALLAS (AP) — A new requirement that girls as young as 11 be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus before they can become legal U.S. residents is unfair, immigration advocates say.
The federal rule added Gardasil to the list of vaccinations that female immigrants ages 11 to 26 must get before they can obtain "green cards."

The series of three shots over six months protects against the strains of the human papillomavirus blamed for most cases of cervical cancer and genital warts. But the vaccine is one of the most expensive on the market and controversial.

"This is a huge economic, social and cultural barrier to immigrants who are coming into America," said Tuyet Duong, senior staff attorney for the Immigration and Immigrant Rights Program at the Asian American Justice Center.

At a cost of $400, Gardasil places an added burden on green card applicants already paying more than $1,000 in form fees and hundreds of dollars for mandatory medical exams, advocates say.

The mandate potentially affects tens of thousands of women and girls annually. More than 200,000 women and girls ages 10 to 29 were granted legal permanent resident status each of the past two years.

Past efforts to require the vaccine for American girls has stirred emotional debate and complaints that such mandates intrude on family decisions about sex education.

In Texas, lawmakers last year fought off an order by Gov. Rick Perry requiring the shots for sixth grade girls amid questions about vaccine's safety, efficacy and cost. Similar programs were proposed in many states, but only Virginia has signed such a mandate into law.

"What surprised us the most is that this requirement is for immigrant girls and women, but not for the general population of natural born citizens," said Jessica Arons, director of the Women's Health and Rights Program at the Center for American Progress.

Despite objections by immigrant advocates that the law is invasive and unfair, a spokeswoman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the agency must enforce it.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Gardasil vaccine, made by New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Inc., in 2006. Then last year, an advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the vaccinations for girls 11 or 12.

For U.S. citizens, the committee's recommendations serve only to provide guidance on immunization issues. But a 1996 change to America's immigration laws required anyone seeking permanent residency to get all the vaccinations recommended by the committee.

Jon Abramson, who chaired the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said the panel never intended to require Gardasil for immigrants and wasn't aware its recommendation would become mandatory.

Merck spokeswoman Amy Rose said the drug company did not lobby the government to require the vaccine for female immigrants and that it wasn't aware of the mandate until after the rule took affect.
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"This is a huge economic, social and cultural barrier to immigrants who are coming into America," said Tuyet Duong, senior staff attorney for the Immigration and Immigrant Rights Program at the Asian American Justice Center.

I am NOT a vaccine fan especially for this one......but what does it have to do with being a social and cultural barrier? I can understand the economic......but I don't get the other part. Way too many of our new immigrants aren't exactly sexually knowledgable with "cultures" of men who have little respect of women and in some cases no control over their urges at all, where abuse of women and children is rampent and potential carriers of a host of diseases. Not always as a direct result of the womans behavior since obviously it seems they aren't given much of a choice in many cases. Sorry, but welcome to America......there's a whole bunch of things we have to do and we don't like alot of them either.

This of course does not apply to illegals, right?

I don't get this. We are now going to let all of these foreigners with HIV into the country, but force little girls to get this shot? Something's just not right here.

At a cost of $400, Gardasil places an added burden on green card applicants already paying more than $1,000 in form fees and hundreds of dollars for mandatory medical exams, advocates say.

Well, if ya can't afford to become an American, then I guess ya just can't.

We have every right to mandate high levels of protection to safeguard US citizens. WHY DO THESE APPLICANTS THINK THAT APPLYING FOR US CITIZENSHIP SHOULD BE EASY AND CHEAP???? Where do they get these ideas??? Immigrating is a PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT. Rights are "free," but Privileges come with conditions, just like a DL.

I think this is wrong and scary.

We don't know what the after effects of this might be. There have been some negative reports already and we know we usually don't hear anything until it is too late.

If we want to talk burden on the healthcare system - think breast cancer, think stroke, think heart disease, other cancers, deformed children.

Remember the pill they gave pregnant women for morning sickness. It's dangers didn't show up until the female babies developed cevical cancer when they reached late teens and early 20's.

Our very own Governor Goodhair of Texas tried to make it mandatory. It didn't work.

Failing to get a paid for, wrongheaded, politician to force it on his own citizens - are they going to now use immigrant children for guinea pigs.

I'm thinking if the immigrants can't pay - we taxpayers will pay for it. Things work that way.

I'm thinking the drug companies really, really need to sell this stuff.

No, I would not force this on illegals.

I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with HIV.

Looks like the drug company paid off to someone to get this law passed so that they could make money. Why should LEGAL immigrants be required to get these shots if people who are born here aren't? That just doesn't make any sense.

Oh sure give the vaccines to other countries people and the hell with our poor & homeless??
I'm sick of non-Americans getting more than an American!

Why should LEGAL immigrants be required to get these shots if people who are born here aren't? That just doesn't make any sense.

John

They tried to make it mandatory in Texas - it didn't fly.

It is wrong to force anything like that on anyone -

worried

I don't think this is anything we want.


If I kick my conspiracy cells in gear, I'm thinking. Green card immigrants are an easy group to track. Vaccinate all these young girls and over the years, when they show up at a doctor's office, clinic, hospital, etc., there would be a record and all those could be correlated.

Yes, guinea pigs.l

I believe they have a legit complaint for not wanting them.....lack of data to prove they are safe and serious known side effects.......just can the excuses of money, culture and all that. I too question why they are so eager to get to these girls and wouldn't put it past them to have it be an experiment either. Lord knows we all are seen as nothing more than guiniea pigs at times. All I know is I wouldn't immigrate here then if they expected me to do something I simply couldn't do. It's the choices and trade off's we make......

They would have my support 100% to not require this vaccination as it stands now.........I'm far more worried about the other diseases than this one. Besides, the vaccine doesn't work for all the various strains, so I personally don't see the point.

ILLEGAL aliens come here by the MILLIONS and no one test them for any diseases and yet McCain or Obama will reward their criminal activity by giving them citizenship in Jan.

If the MILLIONS of ILLEGAL aliens who are given citizenship are required to get these shots can you immagine who much money the drug company will make.