Lax border security and a new threat to consider

Posted: Sunday, October 19, 2014 6:00 am
Russ Sloan
Daily Commercial

I have faulted both political parties for years that we have not secured our borders, especially our southern border, which has allowed over 12 million illegal aliens to enter our country at a staggering cost to U.S. taxpayers. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law an immigration bill that granted amnesty to 3 million illegal aliens with the promise from the Democrat-controlled Congress that our borders would then be secured. This promise fell by the wayside.

After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, I thought for sure that our borders would be secured along with other major actions that took place following the attack. Did not happen. Instead, we now hear a hue and cry from mostly the liberal side of the political aisle for an immigration bill that grants a pathway to citizenship and border security. If any reader believes this border security promise as part of any new immigration bill, especially from this president, I have some waterfront property in the Everglades that is for sale at a bargain price.

President Obama has not only deliberately and selectively ignored our immigration laws but in doing so his action has obviously sent a message that caused 60,000 illegal minors from Central America to show up on our southern border so that they could enter and be fed, housed and taken care of now and probably for years to come. Who pays for this influx of illegal minors? We do.

As these minors overwhelmed our scattered border security capability, they brought with them a variety of diseases, including scabies, lice and swine flu. Many of those kids were not given thorough health screenings and have been quickly and secretly dispersed throughout America. The most transparent administration in our history (an Obama promise) will not release any pertinent information regarding where these minors were sent.

Personally, I find it an amazing coincidence that shortly after these 60,000 minors showed up, hundreds of U.S. kids in 43 states suddenly came down with a severe and rare respiratory virus known as Enterovirus D68 or EV-D68. This virus has hospitalized hundreds of U.S. children and four have tragically died, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, Benjamin N. Hayes, a senior spokesman for the CDC on infectious disease has stated, “There’s no connection between the virus outbreak and the Obama’s Administration relocation of illegal aliens across America who have come to the U.S.” Really? The CDC claims they don’t know why the Rhinovirus suddenly surfaced, but they state it did not come from the illegal minors. Now that is amazing.

Why the twisted logic? Well, if they admitted the possibility that the virus may have come from the illegal minors, there goes the immigration bill down the drain of Congress and then the very vocal demand from the American people for secured borders.

But the greatest threat from having unsecured borders was revealed by Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, the head of U.S. Southern Command, who recently stated, “If Ebola makes it to Central America, it’s Katie bar the door. The people of Central America will try to get to the U.S.” If we think 60,000 illegal minors was a challenge, try stopping hundreds of thousands of adults and minors heading toward our southern border to escape Ebola and reach American medical care.

We just witnessed the death of a man from Liberia who came to the U.S. and lied about having any contact with people suffering from any contagious disease such as Ebola. Once here, he went to the hospital with a 103 degree fever, told them he was from Africa and they let him leave the hospital. Human error, yes, and it can happen again.

Since Kelly voiced his greatest concern about a mass exodus from Central America should Ebola break out there, what do we do if thousands of Central Americans and perhaps Mexican citizens decide to flood our porous border? How do we stop them? If the Ebola outbreak becomes serious, do we forcefully stop women and children as well as men? It is a very legitimate concern for the U.S. and stated not by some crackpot alarmist but by a highly respected Marine general who is responsible for American security south of our border.

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