In addition to the recent spike in imported malaria cases along the southern border, illegal immigrants have also brought other illnesses into the United States, including tuberculosis.
Last year, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report revealed that thousands of illegal immigrant children with tuberculosis were released from government custody.
The CDC states that people with tuberculosis are infectious and can transmit the disease. Aurora Miranda-Maese, an HHS official, warned that if tuberculosis were to become active, it would pose “a threat to both the individual’s and the public’s health.”
Last month, officials at Chicago’s Health Department confirmed a few cases of tuberculosis among recently arrived illegal immigrants but insisted there was no cause for concern.
However, Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez criticized the city’s response in an April 3 post on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that warnings about the situation were dismissed due to “performative politics and hurt feelings.”
“Anyone who demanded action to protect our residents was called racist, xenophobic, and anti-immigrant by fringe politicians,” Lopez wrote. “And now here we are: measles, now tuberculosis both ‘confirmed’ in Chicago. Shame on every mouthpiece that worked so hard to keep this secret.”
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, patrol agents encountered 2.47 million illegal immigrants at the southwest land border in fiscal 2023, up from 1.73 million in fiscal 2021.
