Health Issues and Illegals, A Silent Killer

As a resident of SWFLA and a retired nurse, I want to make my fellow citizens aware of a silent killer in our midst. Americans Standing Tall and other area groups are asking for your signatures on petitions to stop funding illegal aliens, secure our borders, etc, but many people are asking "Why?" I am going to attempt to answer one part of the question with a brief touch on a medical issue confronting everyone in this country, not only in tax payer dollars, but in the very lives of our citizens.

When someone applies to come to this country LEGALLY, they must submit and pass a health screening and be able to prove they have NO addiction to drugs. When the health issues are passed they will then be able to apply for a permanent resident Green Card.

ILLEGALS, on the other hand, have no medical check, no type of screening and usually come from an area that has NO preventive medical treatment. If Border Agents catch a healthy illegal, the steps are taken and they are most often immediately sent back. However, this country has what some call "Golden Door policy" and if we catch an ill illegal, we treat them for as long as needed, releasing them into society on Medicaid till they are well, and mainline them into our system.

The health issues that America long ago had conquered are now resurging at an alarming rate with the influx of illegal aliens. Many ILLEGALS that cross our borders, step on our shores ( knowingly or unknowingly) have tuberculosis (TB) which had all but disappeared from America, thanks to excellent hygiene and powerful drugs such as Isoniazid and Rifampin. However, the return of TB is a new strain called Multi-Drug-Resistant TB (MDRTB) and current medical reports say this deadly strain is 60% lethal for those that are infected. Until recently MDRTB was endemic to Mexico. (New York Academy of Science, Jan. 2002).
Ordinary TB is usually cured within 6 months with the use of 4 drugs, at a cost of app. $2000.00, while MDRTB uses more than the 4, and cure time, ( if you are lucky) is 2 years at a cost of app. $250,000.00 (NIAID.NIH.GOV)

Illegals may not know they are carriers, get jobs dealing with the public, the children play with other children, all it takes is one cough from an infected person, the symptoms may not appear for years, hence, a potential silent killer.

In 2001, Indiana School of Medicine did a study of MDRTB and the strain was directly traced to Mexico. Other areas of the country infected with outbreaks of this strain include Portland, Maine, teachers and children in Michigan, and Texas, Fairfax County Va. has reported a 17% rise in MDRTB cases., and closer to home DELRAY , FLORIDA. Another sobering fact if that 66% of all reported cases coming to America originate in Mexico, Philippines and Viet Nam.

This is only one of the many diseases ILLEGALS bring to this country. The facts speak for themselves, ILLEGALS must be kept out, safeguards are there for LEGAL entry to this country. Guest/worker pathways for those already here, amnesty and whatever else they come up with WILL NOT WORK FOR THOSE ALREADY HERE, the flow of ILLEGALS MUST STOP.

I hope I have given you some food for thought, get involved, sign the petitions, mail your Senators, Reps. and whoever else you can think of, to get this invasion STOPPED.
Don't be a member of the silent majority, for the silent killer is here.

Thank You,

This is an article I have written and will appear in our local papers this coming weekend. Just wanted to share it with you all.