Can we all agree that this is reason enough to have the border locked down and secure?

By “this” I mean the public health concern. In an interview, Dr. Jane Orient, an internal medicine specialist and the Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons had this to say about the threat:

Why is this more of a concern this year than years past?

I would give any credence to an AAPS assessment of health risks. Politics come before science for them. From wikipedia:

The first line on it’s Wiki page says

.

I admit, this manufactuversy is a novel twist on “won’t someone think of the children!”

I’d be willing to lay money that more US children will get sick as a result of parents skipping childhood vaccinations than because of illegal immigrant epidemics next year. But please don’t let it stop you. Fox News needs to fill space between the “Benghazi”, “Bergdahl,” and IRS e-mail reporting with something.

ETA: And to answer the question in the OP: “No.”

Well, I bet that didn’t go as planned, did it? :smiley:

Seems to me this is why we should open up immigration more, not lock down the borders. If we allowed people to come into the US legally then we could health check and process them much better…and help treat their issues before they integrate into our society. Since they are going to come here anyway, that seems a more optimal path. From your cite:

I say open the borders, allow freer immigration (and bring in lots of new tax payers) to those who actually want to come here to live, and make it more enticing to those who want to come here to do so through the process legally, so that coming here illegally is a sub-optimal choice for people.

Problem solved…multiple problems actually. At least that’s how it seems to me, though I might be a bit biased, since my own family came to the US illegally.

Yes, the Conservabots are certainly concerned about infectious diseases! The Texas Observer has a mostly lighthearted article on Republican silliness. (We’re at Ground Zero here.) The dangers of germ-ridden immigrants is one argument that contrasts with this gem from the Texas GOP platform:

Does not compute.

Definitely, immigrants (legal or not) ought to have checkups & immunization (where needed). So does everybody else…even citizens.

I a word.

So, vaccinations are important (which I agree with) to help keep children from getting sick and it spreading to others. But for you, it appears that same concern is unimportant when it comes to trying to prevent deadly infectious diseases from coming into the U.S. Is that right. Similarly, were, in your opinion, the steps to taken at Ellis Island to prevent diseases from entering the U.S. unwise?

Let’s get back to the source of your information, first. Do you stand behind them and their goals? Do you think they are a good source of impartial information?

It has been a concern with illegals doing in for quite a few years now. The reason that it is starting to get more notice is due to the recent activity at the border. Even very liberal senator, Chuck Schumer acknowledges the dangers of mosquito borne illnesses making their way from South America via legal travelers enjoying the World Cup.

We spent a great deal of time and effort virtually eradicating diseases like TB. Isn’t that a good result. Should we be nonchalant in preventing its comeback, and the introduction of other highly contagious and deadly diseases?

Well, magellan01?

Don’t you ever get tired of this old game of loping for conservative leanings and trying to discredit the the facts they relay? Can you share with me which of the claims made be either of the two doctors cited you disagree with. That is fair. Identify them and we can assess their validity. But this sweeping—“B-b-but they’re a conservative organization!”—really doesn’t fly.

The source you based this thread on is against mandatory vaccination.

Well, what? If I started a thread about that, I wold feel the need to defend it. Since, I didn’t, perhaps you’d like to talk about Gilligan’s Island. Or Black Holes. Spaghetti recipes?

Do you support what they stand for or not?

When my folks came over, health exams were just about the only criteria for admission. (I think the obviously “feeble minded” were sent back, too.) I approve.

The group being discussed in the OP is definitely the children recently coming over from Central America. Who are in US custody–where they really ought to be be getting health care. I also approve.

Sourcewatch quotes Mother Jones on the source of the OP:

I do not approve of these guys…

They are beyond conservative-they are nutcases with dangerous ideas.

Also, while not everybody who crosses the border from Mexico is actually from Mexico, the Mexicans themselves have done a better job vaccinating kids from measles, diptheria/pertussis/tetanus, and other diseases than we have. Their state run health system made vaccinations free and widely available, so parents took advantage.

And considering the outbreaks we’ve had among our own citizens, you have to wonder if other developed countries have to start worrying about us instead.