Only in America: The DHS Sees Red; or Not

Posted By: AZ Moderate
Posted on: Apr. 3, 2006 at 10:52 PM

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Why hasn’t the Department of Homeland Security seen fit to raise a Severe code Red alert for this bioterrorist invasion across our southern border?!?

Over 800,000 illegal aliens cross America's southern borders annually. They are not screened or vaccinated for a host of diseases, and they're importing undetected bio-agents into this country.

"Today, legal immigrants must demonstrate that they are free of communicable diseases and drug addiction to qualify for lawful permanent residency green cards," writes Cosman, a medical lawyer, who formerly taught medical students at the City University of New York. "Illegal aliens simply cross our borders medically unexamined, hiding in their bodies any number of communicable diseases."

And don’t think you need not be concerned if you live far from the border. As illegal immigrants rapidly spread across the country, they are employed no-questions-asked in restaurants, food processing and hospitality services.

o        Tuberculosis was almost non-existent in the U.S. five years ago. In the past four years, 16,000 cases of multi drug resistant (MDR) TB, which was formerly endemic ONLY to Mexico, crossed over the borders courtesy of illegal aliens.

o        Infectious hepatitis A, a growing scourge in the restaurant industry, is on the rise. For example “On November 6, 2003, at a local restaurant chain, Chi-Chi's in Beaver Valley, Pennsylvania, unscreened employees 'served' up plates of infectious hepatitis A to their patrons. Over 3,000 had to receive the painful gamma globulin shots while two Americans died. Health officials reported, ‘Workers may have contaminated food by failure to follow basic hygiene in cleaning hands after using the bathroom.’ The employees were not health screened by the restaurant chain.”  Illegal Aliens Spreading Diseases Across USA

o        leprosy totaled 900 cases in the USA in the past 40 years. In the previous three years, according to a report from the NY Times in February, 2003, leprosy has infected over 7,000 people in the United States. And this is an old report.

o        Chagas Disease is brought directly from Mexico and Latin America where it has infected over 18,000,000 people. The T-Cruzi protozoan destroys heart tissue and other organs.

Whether it's any of the above, or dengue fever in Florida, Hemorrhagic Fever coming out of Texas border towns or E-coli intestinal parasites arriving daily with illegal aliens from Mexico, every American citizen is under threat of 'Bio Terrorism'.

Its way past time for the DHS to raise the alert level to Severe. Activate that silly code system for a real threat for a change!!

Additional sources for this article:
Illegal aliens threaten U.S. medical system
Hayworth: Americans should know TB, leprosy, polio, have been linked to illegal immigrants

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AZ Moderate

Apr. 3, 2006 at 11:02:39 PM

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PS. You may wonder why this article was posted in politics. It is posted in politics because it wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the politics being played by Bush and Fox, our own Congress and leadership across the board. If these people were being screened through legal channels, this would not be the problem it is.

And why is it an invisible issue?!? Where is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in all of this? I tried to find current stats on their site, but without luck. The stats may be there, but they don’t pop up with keyword searches. Why was it so hard to find current data on this invasion of Spanish speaking bio-agents from south of the border? Maybe I just didn’t look in the right places, but for a subject of this urgency and importance, it shouldn’t be a chore to find current data.

I think it is being submerged on purpose because it is a scandal of huge proportions!

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prometheus

Apr. 4, 2006 at 12:44:14 PM

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If they Let diseases kill off the poor and Middle class, then the wealthy NEO-Cons won't have to. And Where can I invest in bird flu viruse? Bush says it is coming, probably is (like that mysterious anthrax). A bad case of Bird flu stock could make them all rich! (as millions die). Final thought - The EVIL may forget that disease like the flu is completely unable to differentiate `tween rich and or poor.

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bella_apolonia

Apr. 4, 2006 at 01:57:57 PM

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There isn't an easy answer for the illegal immigration problem, but where is the outrage for the immigrants that arrive here from Cuba. Political asylum is granted as long as they make it to dry land [wet foot, dry foot]they can stay here in America. There is hardly any rhetoric in regards to Canada.

Do you remember the racists comments about black people and the disease Sickle Cell Anaemia, or the U.S. government-sponsored Tuskegee experiment a biological warfare committed on its own citizens for 40 years.

There can be a resolution to the problem without the use of predjudical scare tactics. The fact that the illegals have these diseases just shows the state of Mexico's government or lack there of.

We spend so much time, money and resources trying to create a democracy in Iraq, how about helping this group which contributes to our workforce.

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AZ Moderate

Apr. 4, 2006 at 05:43:49 PM

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Bella,

“ … outrage for the immigrants that arrive here from Cuba.” As I recall it there was outrage from some quarters back then, but it was ignored the same way as today’s seething silent majority is. We can agree that all illegal aliens should be treated as equals with all other illegal aliens. But, keeping it in perspective, Bella, there were not over 1 Million illegal immigrants year-after-year from Cuba. You chose to compare a trickle with a tsunami.

As far as the “…rhetoric in regards to Canada” goes, how many Canadians are swarming illegally south across our mutual border carrying MDR TB, leprosy, Hepatitis A/B/C, E-Coli, etc. and disappearing as typhoid Mary’s in our population? Once again, I am suggesting a little perspective here.

“…racists comments about black people and the disease Sickle Cell Anemia, or the U.S. government-sponsored Tuskegee experiment a biological warfare committed on its own citizens for 40 years.” What has that got to do with illegal aliens flooding across our borders reseeding the United States with diseases that we here in this country had effectively eradicated? And there’s that black magic iconic word “racist”. This wouldn’t be one of those STRAW MEN, now would it?

But, as an aside, and not to be deflected from the issue by a possible STRAW MAN in our midst, these and other experiments (e.g., radiological experiments on enlisted white personnel at the end of and following WW II) by our own government are unconscionable and unacceptable. I suggest that you and I know only the tip of the iceberg on the subject of our governments secret agendas. We probably agree that we can trust our government about as far as we can throw a baby grand piano. I think that was one of the great awakenings, albeit slow to dawn, of the transformation wrought on America by the Second World War.

But that is another issue. It has nothing to do with illegal aliens sneaking across our border to the tune of over one million annually carrying such things as MDR TB, leprosy, Hepatitis A/B/C, E-Coli, etc. and disappearing as typhoid Mary’s into our population. We are stupid and self-defeating if we allow this to continue.

Ow. More straw? “… predjudical (sic) scare tactics.” I don’t see it as prejudicial if it is indeed a fact. And you accede to that with “The fact that the illegals have these diseases just shows the state of Mexico's government or lack there of.” So, yes, while this is not a scare tactic but a real issue that needs to be dealt with, it does scare me. Doesn’t it scare, or at least concern, you?!?

Mexico’s government is corrupt and ineffective for its own population. On this we agree. Does this mean that we have an obligation to let its crappy sewer system overflow into our relatively clean pool of health here in the United States in order to help “… this group which contributes to our workforce.”?

By the way, what does that mean? How does this group contribute to our workforce? Wage suppression for the poorest hard working Americans? Or are you looking at it from the illegal employer’s advantage point (i.e., flood the labor pool with grateful and vulnerable illegal aliens eager to work for a pittance and keep a low profile in order to fatten the illegal employer’s bank account at the expense of hard working Americans)?

Thanks for your comments. Please write an article to expand upon any of your talking points:

o immigrants that arrive here from Cuba
o helping this group which contributes to our workforce
o racists comments about black people
o rhetoric in regards to Canada
o U.S. government-sponsored Tuskegee experiment
o predjudical scare tactics
o illegals have these diseases
o state of Mexico's government or lack there of

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Average American

Apr. 4, 2006 at 06:06:17 PM

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Damn straight Az Moderate. Good article. The illegals bring with them diseases of culture too. They make everyone have to give in to their culture while very few of them adopt ours.

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know it All

Apr. 4, 2006 at 11:06:38 PM

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After reading this article I'm putting on my old combat boots and going down to the border. Once again Moderate did his homework.
In the old days when people came into this country by boat they were checked out by doctors and quarantined if necessary. Where is our Ellis Island?
Between 1892 and 1924 over 22 million people were processed through Ellis Island. Why can't we have the same protection today. If they knew then of the consequences.Why not now?
You might find this interesting.
TIMELINE OF IMMIGRATION TO U.S. 1815-1950
1815: The first great wave of immigration begins, bringing 5 million immigrants between 1815 and 1860.

1818: Liverpool becomes the most-used port of departure for Irish and British immigrants.

1819: The first federal legislation on immigration requires notation of passenger lists.

1820: The U.S. population is about 9.6 million. About 151,000 new immigrants arrive in 1820 alone.

1825: Great Britain decrees that England is overpopulated and repeals laws prohibiting emigration. The first group of Norwegian immigrants arrive.

1846-7: Crop failures in Europe. Mortgage foreclosures send tens of thousands of the dispossessed to United States.

1846: Irish of all classes emigrate to the United States as a result of the potato famine.

1848: German political refugees emigrate following the failure of a revolution.

1862: The Homestead Act encourages naturalization by granting citizens title to 160 acres.

1875: First limitations on immigration. Residency permits required of Asians.

1880: The U.S. population is 50,155,783. More than 5.2 million immigrants enter the country between 1880 and 1890.

1882: Chinese exclusion law is established. Russian anti-Semitism prompts a sharp rise in Jewish emigration.

1890: New York is home to as many Germans as Hamburg, Germany.

1891: The Bureau of Immigration is established. Congress adds health qualifications to immigration restrictions.

1892: Ellis Island replaces Castle Garden.

1894-6: To escape Moslem massacres, Armenian Christians emigrate.

1897: Pine-frame buildings on Ellis Island are burned to the ground in a disastrous fire.

1900: The U.S. population is 75,994,575. More than 3,687,000 immigrants were admitted in the previous ten years. Ellis Island receiving station reopens with brick and ironwork structures.

1906: Bureau of Immigration is established.

1910: The Mexican Revolution sends thousands to the United States seeking employment.

1914-8: World War I halts a period of mass migration to the United States.

1921: The first quantitave immigration law sets temporary annual quotas according to nationality. Immigration drops off.

1924: The National Origins Act establishes a discriminatory quota system. The Border Patrol is established.

1940: The Alien Registration Act calls for registration and fingerprinting of all aliens. Approximately 5 million aliens register.

1946: The War Brides Act facilitates the immigration of foreign-born wives, fiances, husbands, and children of U.S. Armed Forces personnel.

1952: The Immigration and Naturalization Act brings into one comprehensive statute the multiple laws that govern immigration and naturalization to date.

1954: Ellis Island closes, marking an end to mass immigration

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Akman

Apr. 8, 2006 at 11:34:16 AM

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A fine article about a troublesome issue, AZ Moderate.

Initially, my reaction was similar to Bella's but for a slightly different reason - BAA Boy's comment sums up my concern - its potential for fanning prejudicial fires is far greater than it's contribution to an operational remedy of what to do.

Disease is a noteworthy, major concern, no question. However, we all agree that something needs to be done to tighten up immigration procedures and find a way to deal with the Illegal Aliens already on board.

I fail to see how this article gets us closer to a solution.

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AZ Moderate

Apr. 8, 2006 at 11:19:06 PM

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This article was not intended to provide answers. It provides facts and sounds the alarm. We can’t come up with solutions until we see the problems.

And that leads right back to the title and the question: Where is the Department of Homeland Security on this issue? And perhaps even more to the point, where and when is the CDC going to weigh in on problem of the kind that is central to its reason for being?

Once we acknowledge the problem we can get to work on a solution. Perhaps close cooperation between the CDC and its counterpart in Mexico would be a small step to get “us closer to a solution”.

One thing is certain. Setting up straw men and knocking them down is no solution at all!

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