In the days ahead, as the Trump administration ramps up the fearmongering of immigrant children and families even more to justify a possible declaration of national emergency, expect to hear a lot about how immigrants bring infectious diseases to the US.
Don’t believe it. /1
Don’t believe it. /1
Way back in 2015, as he built his campaign of fear and hate, Trump falsely claimed that “tremendous infectious disease is pouring across the border.” /2 theguardian.com/us-news/2015/j…
Last month, Trump repeated this lie, saying that “people with tremendous medial problems are pouring into our country," and that “One of the problems that people don't talk about, you have a tremendous medical problem coming into our country." /3 thehill.com/homenews/admin…
This racist idea has been a favorite of nativists throughout our nation's history. For an exhaustive discussion of the topic, see this excellent journal article on the topic. /4 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Using the language of eugenics, nativists argued that immigrants endangered PRESENT Americans because they likely to carry infectious diseases and spread contagion and would endanger FUTURE Americans by multiplying defective genes that would "defile the national body." /5
It's worth pausing here to note that virtually all of the anti-immigrant organizations active today--FAIR, CIS, Numbers USA--were founded by the reclusive John Tanton, a long-time eugenicist. See this backgrounder by @car1ygoodman. /6 washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/0…
Even today, The Social Contract Press—a publication supported by Tanton’s foundation—regularly publishes race-baiting articles falsely portraying immigrants as carrying diseases. /7
So what's the truth? A major study published last month in the British medical journal, The Lancet, found that “Migrants don’t bring disease. In fact, they help fight it,” as NBC reported at the time. /8 nbcnews.com/storyline/immi…
What makes the claim so disgusting when applied to the Central American migrants seeking protection in the US today is that there’s strong reason to believe the Trump administration’s mismanagement is the far greater cause for concern. /9
This whole conversation is taking place just weeks after two Guatemalan children—ages 7 and 8—died in Border Patrol custody. Investigations should be underway, although there are disturbing reports that the #TrumpShutdown has seriously hampered the @DHSOIG investigation. /10
.@CBP_McAleenan, who failed to report the death of the first child before appearing before Senate Judiciary for questioning, has been very clear that CBP is totally unable to house children safely or provide necessary medical screenings and care. /11
In fact, since the death of the second child, all children in Border Patrol custody have been given initial health screenings that they didn’t previously receive and several hundred have received follow-up attention at hospitals or clinics. /12
When thousands of children were separated from their parents earlier this summer, health experts reported not only on the lifelong trauma we were causing, but also on the unsafe public health standards many where children were being held. /13 healthjournalism.org/blog/2018/06/s…
So as we hear that stopping children and families seeking protection is a national emergency and a public health crisis, know it is (1) false; (2) racist; and (3) an effort to deflect important questions about the deaths of 2 kids and the mistreatment of thousands more. /14
