President Trump has this week expelled more than 6300 migrants from US soil. These were pushed along the US-Mexico border for fear of spreading the coronavirus. They included both adults and children.
Human rights activists have risen in arms criticizing the government for expelling the vulnerable groups. But the government has defended its actions citing the importance of public health.
This is to mean the right of health for US citizens supersedes that of the migrants.
The migrants included those seeking asylum. But none has been allowed into the country ever since the Coronavirus outbreak.
The most recent batch was turned away with public health letters saying they cannot be allowed into US soil based on health grounds. Most were from Mexico and other neighboring countries.
On March 21, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Protection had issued a statement urging border officials to process all immigrants rapidly.
Mark Morgan, the Acting Commissioner for the Customs and Border Protection (CPB), has confirmed this. According to him, it now takes hours to process 80% of the immigrants.
Order timely and essential
In the last three weeks, the CBP has turned away at least 5614 adults. This is in addition to at least 393 family members and at least 299 unaccompanied minors.
The stringent measures have caused immigration to drop by at least 50%. Currently, the CBP is holding about 100 migrants only. According to Morgan, it is a 97% drop from what used to be the case before.
The CBP has also reported to handling only about 4200 migrants per week. Before the public health order, the officials were handling at least 10,000 migrants every week. There was, therefore, a sharp drop.
Mark Morgan further noted that the CDC public health order was timely and very essential. According to him, had it not been issued, border officials would now be overwhelmed with thousands of migrants.
The thousands of unprocessed migrants huddled together in border camps would offer a fertile ground for the Coronavirus to spread. This would, in turn, present fresh border security problems.
In total, the CBP has turned away at least 34,000 migrants since the March 21 order. These have been sent back to Mexico or their home countries.
Clarifying, Morgan stated that the zealous expulsion of migrants was not based on President Trump’s immigration policies. Instead, it was a matter of public health and safeguarding the right to health for US citizens.
Deserving cases may be considered
This is because the migrants were seen as potential cases of COVID-19. And with no verified history of tests, they made a “potentially contagious” group. They, therefore, couldn’t be allowed into the US.
Human rights activists have condemned this move saying the migrants faced prosecution and even death back where they came from. This was especially for asylum seekers.
The expulsion of children has also generated a lot of heat. Children are classified as a vulnerable group, and turning them back, exposing them to exploitation and more dangers.
In response, the government has said it will only look into the most deserving cases. But this is for unaccompanied children only. Children who are accompanied by their guardians will be turned away together with them.
Unaccompanied children are classified as those who come accompanied by adults who are neither their parents, guardian, or family member.
According to the officials, the Coronavirus knows no age. This means even the children would be potentially dangerous for public health.
For asylum seekers too, only the most deserving cases would be looked into.
