Families hold up along the U.S.-Mexico border in halter holding centers are being leave entirely vulnerable to the grippe , CNBCreportedThursday . Customs and Border Protection ( CBP ) is currently not vaccinating political detainee against the viral disease , nor do they plan to before the upcoming grippe time of year this fall .
The declared policy comes despite an earliest supplication by several health expert to reconsider how they treat their detainee , given that at least three nipper in these camps have late died with flu - related complication .
On August 1 , aesculapian and public wellness expert from Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University send aletterto House representatives Lucille Roybal - Allard ( D - Cali ) and Rosa DeLauro ( D - Conn ) . Both Roybal - Allard and DeLauro are phallus of the Committee on Appropriations , with Roybal - Allard chairing the Subcommittee on Homeland Security and DeLauro chairing the Subcommittee on Labor , Health and Human Services , and Education .
A protest against detention camps held in July in Denver, Colorado.Photo: Tom Cooper (Getty Images)
In it , they noted that three tiddler had die in U.S. custody since December 2018 , at least in part due to flu infection — with the youngest victim being only 2 days old . They went on to observe that “ poor conditions at the facilities may be amplify the spread of influenza and other infectious diseases , increasing health risks to kid , ” and that Homeland Security and Health and Human Services functionary may not be following the recommended guidelines for preventing and protect masses in these bivouac from the flu .
Roybal - Allard and DeLauro shortly afterward sent theirown letteralong with the expert ’ letter to the heads of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services , adding that their own inspection of these facilities earlier that July had left them with similar concern .
But when CNBC asked CBP about their vaccination insurance policy , the agency blankly stated that it has no architectural plan to change anything .
“ In general , due to the short - terminal figure nature of CBP holding and the complexness of operating vaccination programme , neither CBP nor its medical contractor administer vaccinations to those in our custody , ” a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman told CNBC over email .
The CBP claims that people are only suppose to be kept in these facilities for a maximum of three day . Afterwards , child without parentsare sentinto shelter negociate by Health and Human Services , where they ’re theorise to get inoculate as needed .
But fit in to Joshua Sharfstein , a public wellness expert at John Hopkins and one of the letter ’s six signers , CBP ’s rationale makes little sense , given what often in reality fall out to people there .
“ CBP is wrong to not volunteer flu vaccinum , ” he tell Gizmodo via electronic mail . “ Many children and families wound up spend more than three days in CBP custody . But even if they only spend three days with CBP , the earlier they receive the vaccine , the faster they will be protect from a potentially serious and even lethal transmission . Moreover CBP should vaccinate its staff and contractors so they do not pass influenza to shaver and household . ”
Flu is n’t the only major and preventable wellness threat facing undocumented residents and families captured by the government . Outbreaks of varicella and mumps among adult immigrants havesimilarly spread like wildfirein facilities managed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement , thanks in no low part to the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions .
This is n’t the first time the U.S. administration has try on to renounce any responsibility for the health of people in their custody — just this past June , the Justice Departmentargued in Union courtthat agency like CBP were n’t obligated to provide toothbrushes , toothpaste , or grievous bodily harm to migratory nipper in their camp , nor provide anything like a cot or layer for child to catch some Z’s on .
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