Swine Fllu is Only the Latest Disease Brought to this Country Through an Open Border

While all attention is on the current swine flu epidemic, dangerous diseases crossing into this country from Mexico, along with millions of illegal aliens is nothing new.

It is often said that the flood of illegal immigrants into this country is reaching 'epidemic proportions.' While that statement is true, it is just as true that the illegal immigrants pouring over the U.S./Mexican border are endangering this country with actual epidemics. Tuberculosis, hepatitis, dengue fever, chagas, and even leprosy are being imported into the U.S. inside the bodies of illegal aliens.

A virtual 'hot-zone' of disease can be found in this nations border states. Illegal immigrants have set up so-called "colonias" just inside the states of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. The shanty towns are comprised mostly of cardboard shacks and huts made with cast-off building materials. They have no sanitation, and are surrounded by mounds of garbage. The estimated 185,000 illegals share their makeshift towns with armies of rats. Of course, diseases only common to Central and South America run rampant in these places.

One of the imports to this country is chagas disease. It is caused by a parasite known as trypanosome. It is a blood-borne disease and is spread by triatomine insects. The parasite burrows into human tissue (usually in the face), where it then begins to multiply. In addition to being spread by insects, it can also be contracted through blood transfusions.

After cases of chagas were reportedly discovered to have been spread by transfusions in Canada, that nation began testing all blood donations for the disease.

Once thought to be nearly eradicated in this country, TB is now making a strong comeback. In a 2005 interview with Mother Jones Magazine, Dr. Reichman of The New Jersey TB Clinic said: "In the 1990's, cases among foreign born Americans rose from 29 percent to 41.6 percent. Antibiotic resistant strains from Mexico have migrated to Texas. Since three years ago, 16,000 new cases of TB were discovered in the United States. Half were foreign born. Strains of TB once only found in Mexico have migrated to the border states of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. It will move north as illegal aliens work in restaurants as cooks, dishwashers, and food handlers. We sit on the edge of a potential catastrophe."

In 2001, New York's Tuberculosis Control Program discovered that 81 percent of that city's new cases of TB were attributed to immigrants

Cases of TB are now being found in many areas of the country, where there are high concentrations of illegal immigrants. In March of 2002, The Washington Post reported that Virginia's Prince William County experienced a 188 percent increase of TB infections over the previous year. Of course, the streets of Prince William County are over-run with illegal aliens seeking day-laborer jobs.

Less than two weeks ago, in Chicago, another outbreak of TB was feared, as an infected doctor possibly spread the virus throughout area hospitals. The unidentified physician worked at Evanston Hospital, Children´s Memorial and Northwestern Memorial´s Prentice Women´s Hospital. Chicago has a "sanctuary" policy for illegal aliens, and consequently has a very large illegal population.

It costs between $250K to $1million to treat a patient with TB.

Despite the dangers presented by the swine flu and the fact that the World Health Organization has raised their threat level to 5 (out of 6). The U.S. government has refused to close our border to Mexico, where the flu has originated and where hundreds of deaths have occurred.

During an April 27 press conference, DHS Janet Napolitano said: "Well, as I said yesterday, we're already doing passive surveillance at the border. And with respect to closing the border, again, you would close the border if you thought you could contain disease, the spread of disease. But the disease already is in a number of states within the United States, so the containment issue doesn't really play out. This particular flu, you can actually have it for a couple of days before you show any symptoms, and so even if—people could be coming through now, even under passive surveillance, who actually have the flu. So that's a very difficult judgment to make."

Then on NBC´s Today Show Napolitano gave the real reason behind this administration´s unwillingness to close the border.

Napolitano told viewers: "You have to look at what the costs of that are. We literally have thousands of trucks and lots of commerce that cross that border. We have food products and other things that go across that border. So that would be a very, very heavy cost."

So, we cannot protect ourseves from the dangerous virus because of "Commerce!"

As usual, business interest are put ahead of the safety and health of the American public. Fears are growing that as this virus continue to ravage Mexico, scores of people will flood into this country, over our largely unprotected border. Of course, many of them will arrive already infected.

It seems that every nation except the United States is taking this outbreak seriously. Take a look at the following headlines from around the world:

"Swine flu prompts EU warning on travel to U.S."

" British holiday companies suspend flights to Mexico"

" Air Canada and Westjet are suspending flights and vacation tours to Mexico"

" Argentina suspends flights from Mexico"

" Cuba halts flights to Mexico as flu virus spreads"

" Cruise lines cancel Mexico stops over flu fear "

The threats posed to our country by illegal immigration are many. However, our political leaders will undoubtedly continue to ignore them. Our own president is willing to place all Americans at risk, in exchange for securing the Latino vote for the Democratic Party.

If left unchecked, illegal immigration will destroy this nation one way or another.