The Trump administration is trying to create a flu epidemic among detained migrant families by refusing to provide flu vaccinations.
CNBC reported:
The U.S. won’t be vaccinating migrant families in holding centers ahead of this year’s flu season, despite calls from doctors to boost efforts to fight the infection that’s killed at least three children at detention facilities in the past year.
“In general, due to the short-term nature of CBP holding and the complexities of operating vaccination programs, neither CBP nor its medical contractors administer vaccinations to those in our custody,†a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.
Not vaccinating detaining is a reckless attempt to create a public health crisis. The Trump administration’s motivation for all of these decisions is that they want to inflict pain on migrants for coming to the United States. The Trump White House believes that they are deterring immigration by torturing immigrants. However, the administration also has a duty to protect public health. Not vaccinating migrants has the potential consequence of turning detention centers into Petrie dishes for epidemics.
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Advocates are going to need to sue the Trump administration, just as they had to sue for detainees to get soap and toothpaste, to both keep migrants and the American people safe from the Trump administration’s racist ambitions to kill migrants with the flu.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
