Nearly half of the 300,000 migrants that have attempted to enter the United States illegally since November come from countries with documented cases of the novel coronavirus, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports.
With these dramatic numbers, the case for shutting down the southern border has never been stronger; President Trump’s declaration that “without borders, we don’t have a country” has become even truer, and his America First agenda is even more pressing to implement.
The department outline five factors contributing to this virus-induced border crisis: “the sheer volume of migrants, the nationalities represented at the border from coronavirus-affected countries, the unique health dangers of journey to the border, the crowded conditions of DHS border facilities, and the strain on healthcare system.”
The data below represents the number of migrants that have been apprehended at the southern border or deemed “inadmissible” for entry with a DHS official adding the act of migration itself could exacerbate the transmission of diseases: “Overcrowding at DHS facilities can lead to increased cases of easily communicable diseases other than COVID-19, such as measles, mumps, chicken pox, and the flu.”
Thankfully the Trump administration has been staunch in its defense of the border, including the construction of a “big, beautiful wall” on the southern border despite the political establishment’s efforts to thwart it.
While President Trump’s efforts to increase border security are harangued as “racist” and an example of “white supremacy,” even Mexico is considering shutting down its own border to protect its citizens from coronavirus. And a host of other countries – Germany, Canada, Poland, and more – have done the same.
While the United States has barred the entry of all non-citizens who visited high-risk areas including China, Iran and several European countries, President Trump has a prime opportunity to do even more; he can turn his America First border policy into reality.
