This coverage could use some background details on how the short-sighted United States destabilized social democratic Central American countries throughout the 1970s and 80s in favor of protecting their own business interests.
8
@Eric: It goes even way further back. The US destabilized Guatemala for all of the 20th Century for instance, and it's still one of the poorest Meso/South American countries, governed by corrupt regimes until at least late 2016. No surprise Guatemalans flock the southern border of the USA, claiming asylum and hoping to earn their fair share from the country that exploited their home country for so long... But that won't ever be taught in USA history lessons...
6
@Anna Guatemalans also vastly increased their population to sky high levels in a place that cannot support such growth. That ought to be taught as well. These are not helpless people who can only live decently when allowed to live in our own lousy cities.
5
I'm an American citizen - can I walk into a doctor's office and demand free treatment? No? So why can a foreign invader?
156
@SarahB How about return to sender or get the money directly from you to pay for their care.
8
@Lucy Taylor They did not come for free health care, they are asylum-seekers. Illegal immigrants are a different set of people. Maybe you can ask Trump and others that illegally employ illegal immigrants so they will not come and get that free health care you mentioned.
10
@Lucy Taylor Once the US takes individuals into custody then by law they are responsible for their well being.
11
As a physician who came to nyc wanting to work and help immigrant patients I have some strong feelings about this. My immigrant patients get everything paid for while my Americans who have been paying into the system go without that was not something I anticipated and does frustrate me. I believe in universal health but to just add 800k people with a high number of health problem is too taxing to an already ambitious goal. Humans suffering under our watch do need care and that is why we have to build a wall. Any other "technology" just leads to apprehension which leads to at least 2 years of free medical care as well as huge legal bills.
The expense of malpractice and salaries of thousands of doctors and staff willing to work at the border in a prime target area for lawsuits will be astronomical. Also, if things get any easier more people will arrive specifically for medical care which I find here in NYC from patients from Africa, Bangladesh and the DR.
39
Change the formula. Doctors take an oath and it is not to make money, or NOT to treat the uninsured. Universal Healthcare has nothing to do with helping the most vulnerable. Morgan Stanley is wide open for all of those in the medical profession who put monetary gain over basic human rights.
1
@H.A. Hyde I think you misread. Doctors do treat the uninsured equally to the insured. My judgment is not on uninsured patients that use the free health care but on our immigration policies that are not compatible with the welfare state and the social net that I would like to see in the future. For example, universal healthcare, free childcare, affordable college and the ability for middle class to thrive.
2
Well, those poor dears. Here's an idea: they should keep themselves safe and stop trying to become an illegal alien.
64
@JackC5
They can't keep themselves safe if you keep voting for NRA-supported Republicans who enable massive gun running south to the gangs that threaten the lives of these families.
11
Yes Lynn, keep telling yourself that. "Its all the Republican's Fault." There were no issues about illegal aliens when the last 4 or 5 administrations were in office, correct? You've almost got yourself convinced.
19
@Lynn: No, this is NOT the republican’s fault (and I’m a Dem). And it’s not the dem’s fault. At some point these ‘migrants’ have to step up to the plate and solve the problems of their *own* countries instead of seeking handouts.
5
Wrong headline. People who try to enter a country illegally will always be responsible for their own actions. More shame on them if they try to do it with children. How ridiculous this nonsense has become. So we make them suffer even more???If they stayed home and did the paperwork to come here legally, then no open wounds, head injuries, fever.
75
Perhaps Ms. Fink and Ms. Dickerson (and their editor) should visit Ellis Island to understand that even during the great legal immigration waves that our country welcomed, many were turned away precisely because they bore diseases.
75
@Charles - please no sensible facts allowed.
13
I don't care that illegals are getting very little care. I care that the same is being said about American homeless elderly, veterans, children. Where is the outrage about that??
113
There is outrage but America voted for Trump and socialism is evil.
You can help Americans and migrants. This isn’t zero-sum.
1
@NYC Dweller Why is it you can feel outrage for the ill-treatment of American elderly, veterans and children and none for "illegals." Yes, maybe they are crossing illegally, but it doesn't mean they shouldn't be treated like human beings. If many of us were in the dire straits these people find themselves in, we'd probably break the law, too.
3
Obviously, the issue as shown exist. No quarrel with that. However, it exist at the expense of other issue that are happening at the border that aren't so complimentary to those against securing the border and this paper.
I read many papers to get what one famous radio personality use to say " the story behind the story" and "The whole story."
Unfortunately, NYT is as believed is playing the only tune that its choir wants to hear. If you think otherwise, take the time to venture out to other mediums and see, and don't read with a jaundiced eye but with a clear mind. Analyze and scrutinize closely. You not only owe it to yourself but, most importantly you owe to those of who read your comments. To parrot on what you are provided here without taking the time to verify is to be but an extension of a bias opinion(s).
There is an old adage that most of us forget and it is "there are always two sides to a story." Are you getting them both here? If not, are you looking for the other side? You ought too. Your John Henry comes along with your comment.
29
@Lu, yet the counties and states actually situated at the southern border do not recognize the need for a wall or other related actions. Furthermore, they believe current US actions are contrary to their rights and interests. Basically this effort to vilify migrants is a PR campaign intended to distract voters from the flaming dumpster in the White House.
1
@Lu
Journalism 101 lesson: the NYT says that they have a responsibility to get all sides of the story, and in this story they did so.
If you read the story again, you'll see that they quoted Kirstjen Nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary; Dr. Alexander L. Eastman, a senior medical officer with the Homeland Security Department; and René Reyes, a Border Patrol agent. That's a reasonable job of getting the other side. Their problem is that they didn't have much to say in their defense, because this policy is indefensible. White House aide Steven Miller created this policy with the deliberate, stated intent of tormenting migrants when they get here so they would stay away. (If this policy had been in place when Miller's grandparents came this country, they would have been sent back to the chimneys of Auschwitz.)
The Wall Street Journal also used to publish stories like this, which showed all sides of the story. Unfortunately, when Rupert Murdoch bought the WSJ, he installed London tabloid editors who edited the stories to favor Republicans, as David Carr reported in the NYT.
Noam Chomsky said that the NYT is the first news he gets in the morning, because, "for all its faults" (and they are many) it's the best we've got.
3
Of the 2020 Democratic nominee does not take border security seriously and present a solid plan to solve the problem he or she will lose
108
@Luciano
Democrats had their chance at immigration, and they instead chose to battle Trump over a wall. It was all about stopping him. Then they even threw in stop-and-release for good measure.
Democrats are unserious about immigration reform. You will have to find someone else to vote for.
41
How about some compassion? They are not our enemies.
13
@Wilder
They don't have any legal right to be here.
21
@Wilder Unfortunately, compassion has a price tag.
12
@Wilder No, how about you pay more of your money to support them.
3
Having worked with the refugees, it hurts to read the conditions our refugees in the Southern border. To all my fellow Americans, please understand that people do not flee their country of origin with small children because they think they can have it easy in America, they flee because of poverty, political persecution and multitude of other reasons. America is a rich country, it is one of the most generous country in the world so please lets treat them with kindness in the detention tents.
41
@NN
So you worked with illegal aliens? Sorry we can't give medical care to everyone, especially when our vets sleep in the streets.
11
@James, No Sir ! I did not work with illegal aliens. Refugees from African countries, Bhutan, Burma, Sudan , Iran definitely did not enter this country illegally through our Southern borders. You might want to revisit your Geography text book to see where these countries are located.
3
@NN zThere are reports of people from Africa and Asia being caught along with Central Americans. Our porous border is well known.
2
"“They’re not treated as if their health and well-being is valued on any level,” said Dr. Anna Landau, a family medicine doctor who volunteers at a migrant shelter run by Catholic Community Services"
That is the central point.
Americans, descendants of immigrants who came here at a more welcoming time (yes, legally, but before Republicans changed our immigration laws in 1924 it was legal to just show up at Ellis Island and head off to an uncle in the Bronx), are insulting their great grandparents by devaluing the lives of those who legally seek asylum and a chance to work for a better life for their children in our great country
11
Sounds like the only crisis is a badly need health care system that’s needs to be implemented soon. They are correct the boarder agents are law enforcement not medics and they are busy enough. Time to set a flat tax so the billionaires and millionaires finally pay into the tax system then we could afford a better safer boarder control. Unless of course Mexico is going to pay for it. Or the foolish waste of wall money could help pay for medical help. A little higher tech is all that’s needed for boarder security not a 12th century wall, that’s for 12th century thinkers.
6
@J Clark
Without agents and barriers to impede or apprehend them, what high tech solution will stop people from crossing illegally?
14
@J Clark
So are you saying the HIGHER TECH equipment should be able to VAPORISE or shoot anyone crossing the line in the sand defining our border.
If not, please enlighten us on how these new electronic gadgets will stop anyone from setting foot on our soil
6
@J Clark
Why is the US responsible for their health care? They are here illegally. Ship them back to Mexico and let them get care there.
15
How overwrought with wokeness, how hyper-progressive, how resentful of law and order, does one have to be to attempt to shame the U.S. for inadequate medical care for immigrants injured by illegally attempting to scale border barriers?
130
@HW, enlightenment is not always pretty, but invaluable at cocktail parties.
5
You're right. There isn't anything shameful about refusing basic medical care to people you are keeping in cages.
3
@HW, not sure where you are getting your facts. Most of the problems have been illness related to general poor care available to poor people migrating to a better life. Please spend some time reading the history of America. The USA has crafted bad trade deals putting millions o9f farmers out of work (NAFTA),overthrowing democratically elected leaders, and encouraging violent crime through a tragically misplaced drug war. That is why people are leaving their homes and their heritage to save themselves and their children from the hell we have helped create. Can we not kill them when they arrive at our doorstep. This strikes me as the same "Christian/evangelical" hypocrites that are anti abortion and also against programs to help feed needy children. WWJD?
1
After the Monroe Doctrine, when the US became involved - in good ways (Peace Corps) and bad (overthrowing governments) - in Latin America, we were villified by them for our interference in promoting democracy. We are blamed for creating a void that was filled by dictators, communists and socialists. Now the citizens of these countries are fleeing - to democracy. If the US is such a despicable place, why does everyone want to live here? The citizens of these countries are responsible for change, but maybe they see an easier route to a better life. Just head north.
I am strongly in favor of building the wall; enforcing our laws; reinstating the term 'illegal aliens'; getting rid of sanctuary cities; requiring photo ID to vote and most of all looking after the health of our own citizens, from children and our Vets to the elderly with comprehensive health care. Charity begins at home.
44
@me..immigration as a concept and higher ideal & greater good for a vibrant healthy state so to speak is without question a critical piece if not cornerstone of a country to survive and prosper.
Conversely and more importantly & clearly obvious to me is that any..as in ANY individual who crosses a country’s border illegally should & must be stopped and returned immediately BACK across ones legal border.
There is a joke in my wife’s Filipino (she is a U.S. naturalized Citizen) community that had the Philippines been in the place of Mexico Filipinos would be crossing the desert in droves equaling or exceeding the Mexican/Central American numbers. Meaning most third world countries will exploit weak borders & seek a safe environment at any cost. This is a human drive. That being said it is encumbent on the so called invaded state to protect citizen rights to “life,liberty & the pursuit of happiness” by rejecting illegal entry to its entity.
Solution? Build a wall..enforce the law..reject all illegal immigration & make the governments pay for their crimes of omission...and stop shaming me as a NYT paying reader & US Citizen that it is my duty to accept said “migrants” and my moral responsibility to let all who desire to walk into my country and play with different rules that my wife followed and worked hard for.
Bluntly..do the right thing that our laws are set for. Otherwise chaos & anarchy will tear us further apart than we already are.
11
@me, first you cite the reason for the instability (US actions) and then blame the victims. Do you call yourself a Christian? If so then either stop doing so or start acting like one for your own soul. Proverbs 28:27: Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse
1
@me A significant factor is that they are fleeing overpopulation.
2
NO! The deaths of the illegal immigrant children, while unfortunate, is not the fault of the US, the Border Patrol, ICE or Donald Trump. It is a failure of parenting. You DO NOT put your children in this situation. You DO NOT set out, with no plan, other than, "We are going to the United States, where the roads are paved with Gold". The last administration and the ones previous to that one, all agreed that there were serious issues with all the illegal aliens coming across the border. Since Ronald Reagan we've been hearing about immigration reform, about how after the amnesty, they would fix it. Well, NOTHING has been done. Not a thing, other than demand for more cheap labor. "E-Verify would fix things!" Yeah, unless it wasn't being used, which it is not. It isn't being enforced, because our Government, our representatives, are complicit in the businesses using the illegal workers. How can 22 million illegal aliens, thrive while living and working under the table? And yes, they are thriving. For the most part, they pay no Federal or State income taxes. No medical bills. No insurance on vehicles (and a whole bunch of them drive illegally, but the police don't take their cars any more when caught). They are not protected by worker's comp, so their employers keep that money in their pocket. Prediction. After all this noise, nothing will change. I'll bet you a cheeseburger on it.
55
Fleeing violence for the hope of a safer life in the US makes you a bad parent? You learn something new every day...
1
@BorisRoberts.
Desperate people often achieve desperate results.These are people who hv lost all hope subsequently risking their lives seems the last n only option. You cannot say for sure whether you would choose any better had you experienced similar circumstances.
2
@Boris, I call my representative and senators to let them know it MUST change.
We should all make sure our elected representatives understand this and work to resolve it.
2
It used to be that if a sick immigrants showed up at Ellis Island, they were put on the next boat back to their home country. We never too allowed immigrants with severe and expensive illness to come to the US. We sent them back.
We need to institute that program now/ If any immigrant is that ill to require expensive hospitalization etc. they should be returned to Mexico or their home country for treatment. Currently the burden of care is falling on the American taxpayer - that is the wrong way to go. We should not be spending taxpayer money for medical treatment of illegal aliens who have just crossed out borders. Contact their consulates for payment or send them back to Mexico.
I read an article a while back that was interviewing people in the migrant caravan. One woman stated that she wanted to get into the US so her child could be treated ADHD. We should not let illegal aliens use the US as their route to free health care. We must screen these people out and deny them any form of relief other than a plane ride home.
There are sick Americans who need this care, and we should not spend taxpayer money on illegal aliens and border crossers.
108
@judyweller except that's not what happened. Sick people were first cared for in the Ellis Island Hospitals and then their reviews for eligibility were continued. For many it was their first time receiving adequate care. Remember the huge tax break the GOP gave to the top 0.1% and major corporations? That is adding billions to our deficit? Well a small fraction of that amount could have been used to provide adequate healthcare to all Americans and emigrants too. Instead the rich got larger yachts. WWJD?
4
@Ted We should not bre reponsible for expensive health care of illegal aliens or those applying for asylum.. Their Consulate should pay for their care and we should deport them immediately to their home country for their care.
You do know that some come to the US to get free health care. They should not receive it - the US tax payer should never be expected to pay for illegal aliens. They should be sent back over the border and receive minimal care to stabilize them but no long term care or expansive surgeries.
2
If there's a way to create an American-hating jihadi, this would be it. This type of treatment by the mighty U.S.A. is used by terrorist groups to recruit. When we treat little kids this way, taking them from their families, indoctrinating them ala China, housing them in camps with un-regulated profit-driven management, I'm not sure what other outcome you'd expect. trump supporters agree that the crueler we are, the purer we are.
When America builds a wall where desperate people have to beg to be let in, some will despair and fall away, which republicans claim is a feature, not a bug!
Again, think of your own grandparents on a boat from wherever in Europe. Think of them being held on that boat for no reason but bigotry. The parents have to give up their kids, who are taken onshore, and are abused there while their families languish, having already made a perilous journey, they are kept out simply because there's currently a 'debate' about their worth to America.
16
2,200 "migrants" a day are illegally crossing our southern border, but we lack the capacity to handle their serious health needs, and this has "led to dangerous medical oversights." But the crisis at the border is manufactured.
61
We have no duty to care for these criminals. We should not be doing so.
78
You need to hope and pray that you never discover what it’s like to be treated with the level of indifference and hostility you exhibited just now.
7
@GeorgePTyrebyter, actually under US law we do have the responsibility to evaluate and protect asylum seekers: 8 U.S. Code § 1158. Asylum seekers are not criminals. Get your facts straight.
5
@Ted When asylum is claimed as a ploy and not based on fact it is easy to forget obligations under law.
5
The border patrol was asked to increase the number of migrants taken into custody without being provided with the necessary means to do the increased task. If the leadership of the border patrol didn't ask for help shame on them. But the real shame belongs on the Trump Administration for making a crisis where there was none and causing more pain and suffering to those suffering enough that they felt they had no choice but to leave their homes to seek a better life. SHAME SHAME SHAME on Trump and his appointees for the pain and suffering they have caused. And, Shame on all those Americans who still support this very mean-spirited un-Christian Trump Administration.
18
I have never seen such inhumane treatment by any US administration in my lifetime. How many children with life-threatening illnesses from 3rd world countries have been admitted to our hospitals, treated by the best doctors, all pro-bono. Being a citizen, a lot of hospitals won’t admit you unless you have insurance. Something is definitely wrong with the system. And something needs to be done. What? I wish I knew.
7
@MZ
You are either very young or have not been paying attention. Drones killing U.S. Citizens and children (Obama), Iraq/Afghanistan invasion (Bush), 3 Strikes (Clinton), Oh, and another Iraq Invasion (George the 1st).
3
Are you suggesting that the Trump administration just "disappeared" major medical facilities all along the border?
Do you really think this started JUST NOW? - or within the past two years?
8
If the Times spent a fraction of the attention it focuses on the plight of "migrants" instead on the plight of Americans, there might be some balance. But alas, we live in a time when merely suggesting there may be some negative effects of illegal immigration on U.S. citizens is xenophobic.
170
if you're an American you're already light years better off than the people. So yes, their plight IS far worse than yours and deservedly receives more attention than your soft American self.
8
@HW That 37 other people recommend your comment is disheartening because there wasn't a scintilla of compassion for fellow human beings in it.
Programs that benefit Americans are being cut to the bone because your hero and fearless leader doesn't believe in social programs or justice.
This type of cold-hearted, fuzzy thinking exemplify MAGA and people that follow Trump's mean spirited policies.
I feel sorry for anyone that can read this article and make an unChristian comment like yours. It misses the point by a mile.
9
Let’s get some socialism to help these Americans that are hurting in the red states! We rich blue states are willing to help and show compassion!
7
I think that the point of this article is that these are people with human suffering. We, as a civilized society need to be compassionate. We need to think this through and discuss it. Would building a few more miles of walls and improving some that currently exist deter people from trying to come? Do we need to provide care and at what level for people that we detain and forcibly hold? I think of the numerous people that enter through the deserts, never encountering the border patrol, where death is more likely. We need to consider what can be done to prevent the conditions that lead to illegal immigration.
69
@Lydia I agree 2200 a day crossing illegally is more than three quarters of a million people. We can’t continue like this.
11
@Lydia
I know that there are people in this world that are suffering. no need to tell me. In this case the NYT tries to guilt Americans into letting them break our laws and get free medical care. No, Thanks.
6
@SRG Even if your math is correct, 0.75 million equals only two-tenths of 1 percent (0.002) of our current population of around 370 million. America can handle it.
1
The lack of compassion among commenters here is appalling. I wonder how many are descendants of immigrants. I am - on both sides of my family.
22
@Mare
My immigrant ancestors came here legally, that is the difference.
27
yes and I'm sure your immigrant ancestors came into the country LEGALLY. that's the sticking point in this whole arguement. legal vs illegal.
18
It's a tad dismaying to see the misplaced outrage on these posts. The migrants are keeping Border Patrol, ICE, and volunteers busy but they are costing very little. Their relatives pay for their travel on U.S. bus lines and air lines and will cover their stay here. Everyone is coming to work because all their relatives, most of whom came many years ago, are working - doing the work Americans just don't want to do. Loading chicken at night for Wal Mart? We have not figured out how to make that work legal, so we are ok with people working in the shadows doing it... I have spoken to many migrants released from Border Patrol. I respect the work they do, but I am troubled by their deliberately making migrants suffer in the temporary detention centers well known as "hieleras" or iceboxes. People sleep on cold, cement floors with that foil blanket just to keep the AC (yes, AC in the depths of winter) from not blowing on them. They get one ham sandwich per day or one soup per day or one burrito per day (yes, per day). Children come out sick... What is also not being written about is that they come in a surge now because Trump has everyone shook up and afraid that the border is going to close. And because Trump takes no action to fix the issue, since it can be fixed even without an act of Congress or new laws, like Doris Meissner (INS Commissioner) did in the 90s with a 700,000 asylum caseload. Don the Con - solve nothing and do anything for political advantage.
19
@Devon and don't forget that the pictures here say it rather pointedly...these unfortunate, pathetic people pose no threat to anyone in the US.
7
@Devon....thank you.
1
@Davud You can't make that statement mean anything. These are not all South and Central Anericans, there are others from around the world who want to avoid the standard immigration vetting. Think about the possible reasons why.
3
As long as we have Trump, we will have heartless border patrol and ice agents doing as they please. As usual there is no oversight and the Republicans in the Senate are cheering Trump on. Let's not make this mistake in 2020, if we can last it out.
17
@Paul Raffeld These invaders should have stayed home. don't blame the border patrol or Trump. Blame the invaders.
7
@Paul Raffeld You do know that the job of the Border Patrol is to protect our border and NOT to babysit those that enter this country illegally, right?
11
The article recalls a woman illegally crossing the border 5 years ago who died after being denied medical care in an ambulance. But presumably those border patrol agents were compassionate because Obama was in office. Got it.
10
During my time as reporter covering the border in the early 1980's, I found that U.S. immigration and customs agents often viewed and treated immigrants callously and cruelly.
This behavior was so prevalent, that I wrote an in-depth story on border agent brutality and misconduct.
The problem this story describes is not about bad apples. It's about a pervasive and long standing culture of inhumanity. Agents don't consider immigrants people deserving of humane treatment.
101
@Ricardo Chavira
Don't you mean illegal immigrants? You forgot the adjective.
44
probably because they're criminals?
25
No human being is illegal.
4
Hey, Border Patrol, I think I have an idea why you can't recruit more agents: most of us have souls.
25
@Alexandra The Border Patrol's job is to protect the border not babysit people that cross our border illegally...get it?
12
Hey, maybe they should go through legal channels so they don’t get hurt. Why is it our fault that they break our laws???
11
Do you drive? Do you speed?
Your actions are illegal! I believe I should call you an illegal. Your actions kill tens of thousands of people a year and cause massive damages and high insurance costs to those of us who respect the law. I’m sick of it and want you rounded up at gun point and drug out by force in front of your families and detained. My family has been hurt by you! I know so many people hit by speeders and family that have suffered loses! You broke the law and should be treated like an animal because you are one! You don’t deserve any rights you illegal speeder!
Does anyone remember Colonel North, Oliver one each? How about the name Poindexter; does anybody remember that name? Those are the good people along with the Contras who in large part, brought us this condition. Those folks were kind enough to overthrow a current government in Central America's territory so a large corporation or two didn't have to pay taxes. Perhaps that's why they don't have Hospital's or a viable social structure in their countries. What we sew, in time we reap. All the really good Bible people should know that.
39
@Dave
I remember that the Contras were fighting the Communist Sandinistas who overthrew the gov't. Check your history.
5
Bit of a history mixup there. Nicaragua is currently led by Daniel Ortega, who was a Marxist-Leninist Sandinista ... and is now an oppressive, corrupt little despot. Reagan, North, et al. were on the side of the Contras, opposed to Ortega and his ilk. How is Ortega their fault?
6
So really these people aren’t fighting for liberty from oppressive governments but large foreign governments outside their control. Just remember that when republicans tell them to go home and bleed to be free. I’m sure they have a fighting chance to stand up against being leveraged by the rich nations if the world in the political chess game.
1
don't people on the other side of the border deserve fine healthcare too?
provide for the caravans.
2
This is not unlike the treatment an elderly neighbor received at the University of Colorado Emergency Department after a fall on her face.
The staff couldn’t be bothered to clean the blood off of her face
4
Who exactly is responsible for the medical problems confronted by migrants at the border?
Liberals seem to blame the Trump administration. But why are the migrants coming to the US?
There is a political action committee, Pueblo sin Fronteras, which takes donations from Americans and organizes or supports migrant caravans from Guatemala and other central American countries.
Nobody wants to see migrants suffer. But why encourage struggling citizens of Guatemala and other Latin American countries to make the perilous journey to the US?
Additional illegal immigration doesn't really solve the poverty problem in Guatemala. There are just too many people to make a significant impact. Population in Guatemala has exploded from about 4 million in 1960 to almost 17 million now. And there are millions more in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Trying to alleviate poverty in Latin America by encouraging illegal immigration is like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. It is innumerate to maintain that illegal immigration can "solve" this problem.
Liberals seem to believe that the US has infinite resources. Even worse, when people try to explain that America just doesn't have the resources to "save" Latin America, those who tell the truth are characterized as bigots and racists.
We live on a finite Planet Earth. At some point controlling birth rates has to be part of the solution. Families must be encouraged to have at most two children in an overpopulated world.
24
The comments here illustrate something for me. There is a lot of theorizing these days that the differences between conservatives and liberals are neurological and fundamental. That conservatives are react much, much more quickly and much, much more strongly with disgust, fear, revulsion, and anger to anything that they perceive as a threat - and that includes suggestions of uncleanliness, violation of rigid social norms, people speaking other languages, strangers....
So I read an article like this one, about desperate, injured people - about sick and hungry children - and I feel compassion and a sincere desire to help.
Reading the comments here, it seems very clear that the reaction of other people is, "Ewww!! Ewwww!!!! It's dirty! It's scary! It's diseased! Stomp it! Kill it! Get it off my shoe!"
I think these differences go to the heart of who we are. I am grateful to be who I am. I thank God I was made with empathy for those outside my clan and tribe. I thank God for making me a human.
11
The only rational solution is to put our army on the southern border to protect it, and immediately deport anyone who crosses illegally. An asylum application must be made legally and if you’re from anywhere other than Mexico, stay there while we decide.
Then, have a UN force deal with these awful countries (Trump correctly called them something else) and solve the problem.
These people are economic migrants. I don’t blame them, but we cannot take them all.
18
At the rate of 2,200 per day, we would have around 800,000 migrants entering on an annual basis. However, the statistics show that the rate of entry in 2017 was around 300,000, and 2018 is estimated at 400,000. Why the discrepancy? Maybe the flow is uneven over the year, or perhaps some of the numbers cited in this article are incorrect. It would be interesting to find out which of these factor contribute to the difference in the numbers.
5
You cannot help but sympathize with these souls.
But before we go full bore Emma Lazarus, let's look at what are not/have not done for our own citizens
https://www.city-journal.org/san-francisco-homeless-problem
What do we tell them?
11
I would accept anyone seeking asylum in exchange for all the people who claimed they would leave the United States if Donald Trump became President since the asylum seekers are more appreciative of our country than those hysterical people.
7
Perhaps President Trump should build military installations along the southern border where no barriers exist, with ample steel structures linked together to safe guard the military bases. The Democrats in Congress would not be able to stop this since they already appropriated this funding for military construction.
4
We could build a wall, very tall, with watchtowers every few miles. Then we could conscript the children of unmarried mothers and welfare recipients, tell them that manning the wall is an honor. With ceremony they could then join the brotherhood for life taking pledges of chastity (which they won’t actually keep but we will look the other way) and they can patrol our southern borders. Maybe we’ll name this brotherhood after a bird or something. And what happens at the wall stays on the wall, right?
Just surprised Trump hasn’t already fully embraced this obvious medieval solution.
3
The United States is the richest, most powerful country in history. It is not surprising that migrants would attempt to seek better lives here. Moreover, the owners of hotels, golf courses, and construction companies are willing to employ them with few questions asked. Dealing humanely with this problem (along with the welfare of our own citizens) is part of our responsibility as the wealthiest country in history. Nevertheless, one response is to regard the migrants as inconvenient parasites. Sadly, that seems to be the attitude of the most popular responses to this article.
4
sorry. not our responsibility for the entire world. unless you're willing to pay 90% of your income in taxes to pay for it
10
We need to send FEMA, medical teams, lawyers, judges and social workers not deploy the military. Trump's solutions don't work. He is unable to define the problem. Trade deficits goes higher with his meddling. Immigration issues
are solved with steel bars.
1
you're right. and effective immediately you have to pay a 75% income tax to pay for these costs since you voted in favor of it.
12
I keep reading in tihs newspaper quite insistently that there is no emergency/crisis at the border. I also keep reading from this newspaper that illegal immigration is no strain on our nation. But yet, I read that now, the level of health care provided to them is inadequate, that their facilities we provide is inadequate, that we are not doing enough despite border patrol a well trained group of people being reduced to nurse maids. I must say, NYT, you seem to be on a crusade here, but it it does not have the effectiveness you folks seem to want.
11
I was a registered nurse working in an ICE prison just a few years ago in Otay Mesa and I personally greeted all of the incoming detainees and then prioritized any of the many folks arriving with medical conditions. We also had a medical clinic inside the prison with medical beds for care. We additionally utilized a local San Diego hospital for more specialized care needs.
Reading this article I find myself in shock that this is where we apparently have gotten. Really- in the USA? But then- I worked for the prison when the Obama administration was overseeing the operation. We didn’t separate children in those days. We had sincere empathy for these migrants fleeing horrendous situations.
On many days working at the prison intake area I pondered my Irish grandparents entering the USA on Ellis Island in much the same way- fleeing a poor and bitter future to give their kids and grandkids (me) a shot at the American dream.
This is so embarrassing.
2
A little perspective would help. How do you think the residents of New Mexico, for instance, feel when there is so much focus on the medical needs of non-Americans coming across their border, while their own access to medical care is extremely limited?
From the Albuquerque Journal [Feb.16]: "As of last week, not a single primary care physician in one of the state’s largest group of medical providers was accepting new patients...."
19
Anecdotes are not a basis for sound policy. Politicians have done everything possible to send an open invitation to violate our immigration laws and this is what happens.
But don't call this an emergency!
10
as a US citizen, I am unable to buy a house and retire to Ireland as I would like. why? because Irish law restricts me from living in the county unless I can provide proof of an income I didnt even earn here in the us. and it has to be after taxes. and I need to be able to pay my own health care costs. all so I dont become a "burden" on the state.
enough said?
18
No one should be denied medical treatment or be left to die or have a wound fester to the point of needing amputation. But if thousands of migrants are flooding to the borders nonstop, we have to address that, too. It's silly to look at this from a lopsided perspective. If you come to the border with an ailment, traveling thousands of miles, you're not really putting yourself in a safe situation in the first place. I just don't understand why most liberals (and I consider myself one) can't concede that the country isn't a bottomless pit of money with an endless supply of resources available to suddenly provide fantastic detention centers and medical care at the borders. I myself have been treated inhumanely by public healthcare in CA. I do believe any human being deserves access to care, but let's come back down to earth. It'd be nice if our country could do something far more helpful like try to help these countries so folks don't have to apply for asylum. I'm all for immigration, but we have to find a sustainable solution fiscally. We liberals can't delude ourselves. In the meantime, YES, get people the care they need! Change things. Pay for it. Please do so. But long term? End the "Let's give everyone medical care even if they don't pay taxes!" and find some real solutions, even if that means granting more residency/asylum to folks who come here, and doing it fast, so they can work and pay into the system.
6
The underlying accusatory tone of this article is that we Americans are somehow inherently responsible for waking every person up in their sleepy towns south of the border, urging them to caravan north, causing them disease and then sadistically denying them medical care.
Is there no point where we are reasonably entitled to say that our responsibilities to assist others less fortunate are limited to those American citizens who have both paid and not paid into the system?
I wonder how charitable the writer of this article would feel if he was asked to assume the monthly health insurance costs of some of these acutely ill immigrants?
18
Hop a border fence and complain you're not being given perfect medical care. What gives someone the right to do either one?
21
It's six hundred a month for coverage for my family. Why do these people expect me to pay my medical insurance and theirs?
31
It is entirely possible to think that this stinks and still not think the solution is hardly importing all poor people from the south here. Dems who call anyone who suggests otherwise terrible people only drive home the indication that Dems are against all immigration laws and in favor of taxing Americans to support it all.
23
I hear a lot of people here making the valid point that so many of our own citizens lack adequate access to healthcare themselves.
This is absolutely true, and yet bringing this up in the context of this article conflates two separate problems. The issue is not that people who have crossed and been detained are supposed to have immediate free access to, for instance, preventive health services or even timely treatment for their colorectal cancer or lupus. It’s that they are being detained and can’t obtain timely emergency care. They cannot leave the premises by themselves and check themselves into an ER no matter how ill they feel. Whereas EMTALA allows anyone regardless of insurance status to be cared for at an ER— it may bankrupt you if you’re uninsured, but if you’re living free in the U.S. you always have theoretical access to emergency care.
I agree 100% that Americans deserve better access to healthcare that doesn’t bankrupt them. And I also agree 100% that children should not be dying preventable deaths while in U.S. custody. These are not irreconcilable positions to hold and we can do better than to assume that they are.
13
They’re being detained for entering illegally. They’re free to be dropped on the other side of the border and be free to go anywhere.
11
but they are being given FREE health care. we citizens have Americans who cant afford the same health care we are giving freely to illegals trying to cross our border. that's just wrong.
11
A MODERN-DAY FATIMID CONQUEROR -
It was a very longtime ago. In fact, a lot more than a millennium, to somehow be precise when Fatimid conquerors could, without reservations, justify the commission of a walled city. A walled metropolis, in 969 AD, that had officially become Cairo. So there was a reason for such an action, legitimate and unprecedented that was in the annals of Egyptian political history. The specific reason for the birth of the walled large town of concern or its establishment, to mark the supremacy of their victorious troops, as affirmed by their conquest of Egypt. However, a lot more than a period of a thousand years later, especially when calculated from the traditional date of the birth of Christ, tumultuous or congested Cairo may have become (refer to its fast growing population, but now one of 23 million inhabitants), the wall itself may long, in part, have been consigned to the rubble. Still, it would be a grave error of judgement for one to conclude or assume that United States President Donald Trump would cease to attempt to replicate the great action of Fatimid conquerors by building but his own wall, at the Southern U.S.-Mexican border; this, especially to prove what he apparently had long confined in many friends, and even other persons who were not his friends, that he only was the unquestionable distant descendant of Fatimid conquerors, and as such only him, none others, can sure
2
So, allowing a woman to choose to have an abortion is murder, but allowing, or even contributing to this kids death is good for our national security.
So much hypocrisy from these right wingers.
9
@Lili B Abortion is completely illegal even to save a woman's life in many places in Latin America. You think there are no anti abortion extremists in Catholic Central America.
7
I am honestly conflicted. While we are a nation of laws and cannot condone open borders and rewarding those who enter illegally, I am still struck by the fact that I, as an American; not a Native American, am an immigrant as my ancestors came from elsewhere. They were part of the "...tired, weary, huddled masses..." Thus, I do not take my citizenship as an American for granted, and want to share the opportunities our country offers to those who want to come to our shores, while at the same time, want to respect our laws, our borders, and our depleted resources. Therefore, I am straddling both sides of this issue, but rest assured, I do not, for one moment, think it's okay for children to die because of the poor choices of their parent(s).
19
@Jelly Bean
I'm with you. This is a real tough one, and I don't see an easy solution. Especially when you realize so many folks are in very threatening situations back home. And yet...I couldn't knock on the door of Australia or Spain and demand they take care of me medically. I've been traveling internationally and am well aware of how easily I could be thrown into a detention center if I overstay my visa. We have fiscal realities, here, but as you say...who am I to judge? I did nothing to get this US passport. It was luck at birth, so I'm pretty conflicted in the end. My ancestors came from Armenia and Hungary, but that was a different time.
12
@jellybean--did your ancestors immigrate here legally or illegally? I'm going to assume legally, and that should clear up the whole conflict for you.
11
Is the U.S. government at fault for destabalizing any of these countries in any way, shape or form? I believe American hands are quite dirty.
8
Then why continue aid?
8
Border patrol has never put anyone at risk of anything. Illegals put themselves at risk when they leave their country and then solicit a criminal to smuggle them thousands breaking not only American law when they illegally entry the United States but also breaking Mexican laws. by not going to a embassy in their on country or in a country they pass through they are supporting organized crime and drug cartels
27
This is of course a sad situation. No human likes to see other people suffer other than sociopaths. But this is written with bias and an agenda, not 'news.' On one side we have people who want the US to provide refuge and medical care for anyone and everyone. Who pays? Well, usually someone else, the rich. On the other side we have people who do not want to hurt people, but do not want to spend money on these immigrants. Side one frames this as racism or xenophobia. Side two denies this and sees it as economic reality.
Maybe both sides are right. But we have a divide because there does not seem to be a rational endpoint to how much I am supposed to give away from my pocket, no end to the needy who in this case come here because we give better benefits than they would get if they headed south .
We cannot keep giving and giving. Look at the state level- tax tax tax and the rich leave. Chase away job-supplying companies because they do not fit the liberal narrative. Nobody will be left to pay for anything.
There is a happy medium. And open borders is not it.
28
@Ny Surgeon
I am a physician also. Your comment is embarrassing to our profession.
Most of these people are young and healthy and applying for status. Until they are denied they are not illegal.
Providing care for a few of those kids will cost a fraction of the useless wall Trump wants to build.
13
They are not “applying for status”. They overstayed or entered illegally. The problem is Obama created Daca with no right. I am not an embarrassment. Our country is for allowing people to flout our laws.
9
@lilyb--wjen they try to cross the border, they are illegal. if they have to be detained because they are trying to cross illegally, they are illegal. I know your a doctor. law is confusing for you
11
Trump does not solve problems, he creates them, and makes them far worse. Trump himself now has become one of the biggest problems in the world today.
Basically, this has become an international humanitarian crisis due to Trump and Session's despicable plan to discourage immigration by taking children from their parents at the border. They couldn't think of any alternative to cruelty??
At a very low level, it is obvious the Trump-Session's "plan" is not only not discouraging refugees from coming to the US, it is doing tremendous and irreparable harm to human beings and to the stature of the United States in the world. Trump has created--totally unnecessarily--a yuge brand and image problem for our country. Maybe this is only level he is capable of grasping.
At a humanitarian and ethical level, this is intolerable and criminal. An international humanitarian crisis should be declared, and the United Nations should step in, as it would for some dictatorial, inhumane third-world country. Haul the Trump administration before the International Court, bring in Doctors Without Borders, and humiliate the richest country in the world that has proved to be the poorest in human spirit.
5
@PB
Ok, to follow your line of thought..
Sure - let's open these borders so the "optics" and the "brand and image" of the US make us look more "humanitarian" to others..others who do not have the responsibility of actually PAYING for healthcare, shelter, education of all of those who we "humanely" allow to enter our country.
How about if we allow all of these people to settle in Northern Utah? No doubt, you would be screaming to reign in immigration - any way possible.
The humanitarian crisis does not lie with the United States - it lies with those corrupt governments who are fine with creating such a horrific life for their citizens and not caring one bit about their people - sure - let the US take them in!!
15
@PB--obama created this when he decided to ignore current immigration laws. trump is trying to reverse and clean up his mess.
5
Why doesn't 45 send Ivanka and Jared to fix the world's problems? I do believe they are the smartest and best people for any job any where in the history of our world. Sure 45vand his supporters would agree.
5
Cruelty and inhumanity from trump's admin.. that just means it's Tuesday like any other.
2
@Tom Hoover
Did you read the article? These problems have been going on for years, including under Obama (who also separated families until courts said no. They are being covered now because Trump is president.
8
At the least our Congress should enact laws similar to “Good Samaritan” laws that protect those rendering medical assistance from lawsuits and claims of medical malpractice.
5
Dear New York Times:
Can you please do some investigative report on the vast corruption that exists in the governments of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. These government officials need to be held responsible for the well being of their citizens.
36
"Border Patrol Facilities Put Detainees At Risk" Nope, the parents that chose to travel in hostile conditions and break the law to enter the US, put themselves and their families at risk. I agree with all the comments that we don't own these people any healthcare and that citizens - including veterans - who have no healthcare insurance should come first. I'm sickened that the parents whose children died in custody are suing the US. I'm in my early 60's. I was traveling consultant/small business owner up until last year. I got tired of being forced to buy Obamacare with no subsidies and tired of illegal immigrants receiving free healthcare. As a result, I retired. We need to build the wall, close the borders and enforce IVerify.
28
I enter the country illegally and complain about my treatment. I enter the country with pre-existing medical conditions and lament my medical care. I know what I am doing when I do it and yet I accept no responsibility for my plight, The lack of medical treatment facilities for illegal entrants into the United States is unfortunate but pales in comparison to the cost of medical care for our citizens. In life we all make choices but we do not get to choose the consequences.
33
All part of the manufactured humanitarian crisis...
7
Shame on us. Perhaps a surtax on multi-millionaires could be dedicated to healthcare for such needy people, not to mention citizens who lack access and affordable healthcare. Disgraceful with a capital 'D'.
4
Sure. Just ask millionaires to pay. It’s not like they deserve their money.
2
@NY Surgeon
I said multi-millionaires and since such citizens benefit greatly from our system it doesn't seem untoward that they pay a fair share of taxes, which arguably many do not.. A 'fair share' is open to debate of course. If close to 50% of the wealth in this country is owned by the top few percent of residents it is not unfair to create a tax code that yields revenues to deal with major social and infrastructure issues. Or we could go back to the Eisenhower years when the top tax bracket was 90%. Just kidding.
4
@Sally Peabody
Different debate, but a "fair share" is everyone pays the same dollar amount. The next most fair is the same percent. An increasing percent is unfair, since I had the same opportunities as people who make less to "benefit greatly from our system." Being successful is not easy. It takes tremendous work and high risk with delayed reward.
Practically, of course there needs to be a progressive taxation system and I am not suggesting otherwise. But it is not fair. It is unfair. But necessary. There is a difference. And the left gets nowhere telling wealthier people that they are not doing enough. You cannot legislate what you think is moral.
3
“'Border Patrol is a law enforcement agency. It’s not a humanitarian agency,” said Dr. Alexander L. Eastman, a senior medical officer with the Homeland Security Department'"
This is the problem right there. They are treated worse than prisoners in US prisons. They are treated worse than stray animals. They absolutely need to be more humane and treat them as human beings. Provide them with basic necessities and medical treatment.
2
@Cncrnd45
Here is what happens to a prisoner checked into the county jail
(1) Any medications they have are confiscated (have to be checked to see if they are what the person claims & approved by medical personnel or the inmate's physician)
(2) They are ask questions about health but DO NOT GET a "COMPREHENSIVE" exam. No temperatures are taken, no blood pressure, no physical, no xrays, no labs. NOTHING
(3) Minor illness = wait until the next sick call. Only if the condition could be life-threatening or serious (broken bone, unconscious) do they get taken to an outside medical facility for care.
(4) They do NOT see a doctor at the jail - only a nurse or EMT/paramedic
(5) If they are due to be released but need a medical treatment after the time of their release, too bad. They are out the door & it is up to the person to obtain & pay for care.
That is reality despite the NYT whining that all these people who committed the CRIME of unlawful entry (crossing the border WITHOUT permission no matter why they crossed) should all
* get a comprehensive exam - physical, labs, etc
* see a doctor
BTW I work in a dog breed-specific rescue, When we get a dog into care we DO NOT go rushing off to the vet for a complete physical and lab tests as "just to see" exercise. We do all the medical care they need when they need it - neuter/spay, vaccinations, heartworm test & anything needed specific to that dog (lab panel if we suspect, say, pancreatitis or urinary infections.).
7
The real story is the shortage of medical facilities outside metro areas throughout the United States. Reporters need to do much more research. First, let’s see a location map of all hospitals within an hour along the Arizona, New Mexico and Texas/Mexico borders. Then there needs to be another map with locations and numbers of licensed American physicians who live within an hour of the Arizona, New Mexico/Texas borders. Rural America is horribly underserved with hospitals and urgent care centers. Please do a comprehensive story about the lack of medical facilities throughout non-metro areas of our country. Having to travel 100 miles to have a baby in a hospital or visit a doctor is very common throughout rural sections of our country. Shameful.
4
It is irresponsible for the Border Patrol to release injured/sick people to be cared for at taxpayer expense at hospitals, etc.
Maybe we need to enforce the same rules our ancestors who immigrated legally through Ellis Island and other controlled ports of entry faced. If you were sick or injured, you went back on the boat and were refused entry.
18
I cannot even begin to articulate how immoral, impractical, and hateful it is to advocate for refusing medicinal care for those in need.
I understand boarder security’s first priority to protect our boarder/country, but what harm is a 10 year old girl with a 105 fever going to do? Or a teenager about to lose his foot? Or a middle aged woman?
Why should we reject critical patients when our doctors take an oath, above ALL else (INCLUDING politics), to treat people?
Why is our country so fixated on who should and shouldn’t receive medical treatment!? It should be an inherent right! Life is sacred and it’s all we have. We shouldn’t willingly let people die when we have the means to help them. And our own neighbors nonetheless.
I’m a patriot, but this makes me so ashamed of my country.
9
Walls work. Build them.
22
@Olivia: Are you going to volunteer to take lands from their owners to build those walls?
6
@Anna
No need for individual action. The doctrine of eminent domain is very long standing.
6
@Anna Eminent domain.
2
Welcome to the US, where even citizens don't get health care. Shame on us.
14
It is absolutely fascinating to see the differences - stark as can be - between the “all” comments, the “NYT picks” and “reader picks”... just incredible. I suggest everyone take a few minutes to click on each tab above.
15
That is not good that the migrants are being reportedly raped in high numbers. That decreases the survival rate immensely; not only the survival instinct but the survival aid and survival livelihood manifested. There is less health and a sickness difficult to attend. I'm insisting these people find family.
Why are invading hordes entitled to free, First World medical care?
29
@John Galt: You call improvised emergency care First World medical care? Only in America... And by the way, Americans have been invading hordes numerous times in Central American countries for much of the 20th Century, leading to the conditions that so many now try to flee...
7
@Anna
Just look at all the Americans who live in El Salvador?
3
@Anna If we are so horrible why do they want to come here? And why aren't my comments being published?
7
The lack of compassion in these posted comments is quite remarkable.
This is problem we have significantly contributed to with our policies in the US, lack of a spine for primarily the Republican party to devise a sensible immigration policy and our dear leader contributing by draconian measures.
Amazing!
12
@Sherry Compassion does not mean being forced to pay the medical bills for someone who voluntarily hopped a border fence or people who leave Mexico in the mistaken belief they are allowed to move here.
11
So if a burglar was injured breaking into your home, you would obviously want to pay their medical bills right?!
8
I'm an atheist. As such, I'm not religious at all. However, I do know something about Christianity and decided to directly post, without comment or elaboration, The Parable of The Good Samaritan a few hours ago. I figured that although no one would argue with Jesus here, most folks would choose to ignore him. So far, my guess has proved to be pretty much spot on.
I was also curious to see how many fellow atheists I had in the Christian community (The Parable of The Good Samaritan provides unambiguous and direct guidance about how those seeking aid and comfort at the border should be treated if one is to inherit Kingdom of Heaven). Much to my paradoxical dismay, it appears that I have a lot of company sitting in the pews on Sunday.
5
We should allow them in and put them in buses straight to NYC. Then the NYT can put them in corporate funded shelters and take car of their every want and need.
24
Americans first. These people should stay and fight to make their country better. But it’s so much easier to come here and get government benefits. Illegals cost us 140 billion a year.
22
@Olivia: Yes, that's what Guatemalans did in the 1940's when they rebelled against the United Fruit Company and the dictators it backed. But the USA overthrew their democratic government and installed a dictator again which led to a nearly four decades long civil war in which the US backed the autocrats. Americans were illegals first in Guatemala and other Central American countries.... Study some history before judging!
6
The corruption in Central America started when the Spanish showed up. Perhaps they should all go there? Since the 40s the populations of those countries have increased between 4-6 x. Our interventions have made things worse, but their breeding far beyond the capacity of any country to take care of their people is the heart of the problem.
7
@Anna That was the 1940’s. This is 2019.
5
Dear DNC, Democratic leaders, Pelosi, Tom Perez:
Read the "Readers Picks" comments of every immigration article in the NYT for the past 5 years and you will see that none of us supports your stance on immigration and illegal immigrants. We are sick of it.
Stop this insanity or you will lose both the White House and the Senate in 2020. I guarantee it.
When are you people going to do your job and help actual real American citizens who are displaced by natural disasters, homeless, suffering and struggling, living in violent gang-ridden areas -- our own American citizens who lack education and cannot get the same medical treatment you are giving illegals?
Stop the insanity of using our tax dollars for illegals economic and medical-seeking migrants!
36
@Misplaced Modifier: And what have the Republicans done for those real American citizens?
6
I hear all of you. But the image of a young mother and her sick infant lying on a cold concrete floor with only a mylar sheet for warmth will not be leaving me anytime soon. These are asylum-seekers not criminals, and even convicted murderers in this country get cots and blankets.
9
@Frances Henry They are not asylum seekers. They are economic migrants. Do not come here with no skills and a baby expecting us to support you.
4
As a retired social worker and teacher, I have close to thirty years' experience working with legal and illegal immigrants. I can tell you for a fact the price tag for admission to our country is astronomical: Medical, housing, education, food, general assistance, SSI--the needs of each and every immigrant, whether old, young, sick, healthy, educated or not, are substantial. In quite a few cases, benefits are paid long-term to immigrants and their kids born in the U.S or outside of it. I'm on Medicare and grateful for the program, but exposure to extraordinarily high medical bills has compelled me to purchase a Medigap supplementary plan which costs me over $2100 per year on top of my Medicare premiums and drug plan. Even so, I have zero dental or vision coverage, and some prescriptions are not covered or have hefty co-pays. On top of all that, I pay onerous federal, state and property taxes. I'm far from rich. My old car frequently suffers damage from the poorly maintained roads in my area, causing me to pay plenty for maintenance. In sum, I barely creep along. There are millions like me who feel that our taxes should not be going to assist people who have no entitlement to come here, and who have never paid and perhaps never will pay any taxes into our system. Our schools, hospitals and roads are becoming overwhelmed by people who invited themselves here and coast on our goodwill. I've never voted Republican, but I might.
41
I do feel for you, but you’re blaming the wrong people. Don’t take it from me, though. Here’s a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on the contribution of refugees to the economy simply using the metric of taxes: https://www.nber.org/papers/w23498
3
@Bane These are economic migrants not refugees.
8
It appears that there is an emergency at our border after all. The emergency is that far too many illegal immigrants keep pouring into our country expecting us to take care of them. It sounds like most of the illness and injuries they are suffering are related to their journey and their efforts to enter the United States illegally. These immigrants pouring over the Southern border need to stay in their own countries and work to make them better. Or if they are seeking asylum, they need to seek it from the first country they come to, which will probably not be the United States. The American people have had enough--it is time to get tough at the border!
34
The nyts is now reporting a surge in immigrants trying to get across the border. The left has to take some responsibility for this and the human tragedy that this is causing. By encouraging people to bring children as a prop to gain access to the us the press and the left are as bad a trump. It’s time to return everyone to their home country to apply from there. As soon as the word gets out that it will be a wasted trip and the land of the social welfare net is no longer available we can change our asylum laws and spend money helping these countries provide for their economically disadvantaged millions. We cannot take them in.
23
The land of the social welfare net has me crying with laughter. As your fellow right wing commentators note, the social safety net is in shreds. But as I’ve pointed out multiple times, that’s not the fault of asylum seekers and refugees or even if simple illegal immigrants: it’s the fault of the folks you keep electing to power!
5
Wow, thanks. It’s good to know they won’t be using any public services like schools and hospitals. Oh and btw, I’ve NEVER voted republican.
4
@Bane I am not a right winger but keep defining compassion as open borders and taxpayer provided medical bills for all central Americans and you will lose both left and right.
7
Clearly, time for Doctors Without Borders.
4
What's the point of these articles? Are US citizens supposed to feel sympathy and compassion for all "migrants" receiving free medical attention and/or ER services at the expense of taxpayers? Did anyone force these people to make the journey across Mexico? The answer is NO.
The US is not the world's free-of-charge medical facility.
The "suffering" these people endure are a small price to pay for the unlimited benefits awaiting them at a sanctuary city...the real reason they keep coming.
33
Americans are divided and insecure, not because of immigrants, but because Ronald Reagan began selling out government of, by, and for We the People in order to make himself and his already rich friends even richer.
The Republican Party is continuing the scam and diverting all of the country’s assets to themselves and their friends. They have never found a problem that couldn’t be fixed by giving more tax cuts to the rich.
“Corporations are people”, and “money is speech” only in a corrupt, self serving government - a government only interested in betraying the American people in order to line the pockets of politicians.
Since Reagan, Republican policies have caused massive financial insecurity in the lives of far too many Americans, and turned them against their fellow Americans, seriously dividing the country.
We will not heal these divisions by giving more to the rich, but the Republican Party will be more than happy to further divide the country by making themselves richer and thereby making the lives of average Americans more tentative and insecure.
9
@Grove
Yes, yes...let's blame the Republicans for all the ills in the world.
The Democrats have done no wrong in this country, of course, of course.
Typical delusional distortions by the Left.
7
@DB
Please name one thing that the Republicans have done for average Americans so we can clear this up.
1
Lets provide more resources to give the asylum seekers more care and more help and devote more resources to expedite applications, so word spreads and more will come, and more resources should then be allocated... does that work?!!
The US cannot be the solution to the third world's endemic corruption and problems, take on those truly deserving, but the rest should do something brave - to make their own world better for all their fellow men, women and children that they intended to leave behind. Leaving is cowardice as a populace when you are born into those circumstances.
26
I find it suspicious that now, after the budget is in that the NYT is featuring articles relating to boarder security...
13
Enough already! The NYT continues to push and force a pro-immigrant narrative and sympathetic framing of illegal immigrants. This is not journalism.
And comment after comment from Times' readers is adamantly against it. When you see a backlash from the super compassionate, progressive collective voice of Times' readers, you know the tide has turned.
I'm a lifelong progressive and Democrat, but my tolerance and empathy for illegal immigrants is gone. I look around and see that my fellow Americans are suffering. Why aren't we helping them first? When are our politicians and policies (and the news media) going to start reflecting the interests of actual American citizens?
We are no longer in a position economically or ecologically to take in the world's poor, unskilled, sick and desperate. The world is overpopulated and growing far beyond capacity in third worlds. America isn't taking care of its own displaced, sick, poor, unskilled citizens. Why are politicians and media so intent on helping illegal immigrants while do nothing for American citizens?
45
I think there is a crisis on sections of our southern border. Call it desperation. The refugees, sick and / or exhausted, terrified; the Border Patrol, forced into situations and duties they were never trained and supplied for. No wonder people behave with depravity. ( Misplacing my car keys makes me crazy.). But imagine this:
Congress decides to repurpose Tump's s "emergency funds" to this existential humanitarian crisis / emergency. Deploy military style MASH units. Focus national guards and military construction battalions on building adequate shelter. Use the military justice courts to expedite asylum cases. Call in the Red Cross and UN support teams. Involve the Salvation Army. Etc.
$8.5 billion is one helluva lot of money to be repurposed for humanitarian emergencies. Trouble is, it doesn't sound like that much. So, think of it this way. Count to a thousand a thousand times for one million. It takes a thousand million to get to just one billion. Now that's beginning to sound like real money.
Why not repurpose it for good instead of cruelty?
1
@Susan
So, apparently you're OK with immigrants coming into our country through illegal methods.
Yes, let's reward these immigrants by re-allocating "funds" and give them free healthcare (well, not really "free"...my tax dollars will pay for it), new shelters and yes, let's stress the resources of the Red Cross, Salvation Army (which rely heavily on donations, so again, the public would be responsible for payment)
If you think there is an uncontrollable amount of illegal immigrants now -wait till your "rewards" get implemented...immigrants will be coming here from far and wide just to receive all of these free benefits - even those who are not oppressed.
8
Migrants can be prosecuted for crossing the border illegally even if they request asylum after crossing the border. Asylum seekers know they are supposed to apply or asylum at legal ports of entry. Those who cross illegally and then apply for asylum are those who know they don’t meet the criterial for asylum.
The United States is not obligated by U.S. or international law to accept asylum requests presented at the U.S.-Mexico or U.S.-Canada borders. The reason is that the United States now has an agreement (“Migrant Protection Protocols) with Mexico that is similar to its long-standing “third safe country” agreement with Canada.
U.S. asylum law specifically states the United States may refuse asylum requests when asylum seekers can be returned to countries other than the ones they fled. Mexico is now such a country. Safe third country agreements are also authorized under United Nations asylum protocols designed to prevent “asylum shopping.” Asylum seekers are supposed to seek asylum in the nearest country that offers asylum. Mexico has asylum laws similar to U.S. asylum laws.
Although it is not obligated to accept asylum requests presented at the U.S.-Mexico border, the United States continues to do so, but requires asylum seekers to wait in Mexico. It is also returning asylum seekers who have crossed the border illegally to Mexico.
13
It is time for us to make a deal with Mexico to seal off their southern border with Guatemala. It is much smaller than the US-Mexico border. The mass exodus from Central America needs to be brought to heel.
27
The private detention facilities away form the border are not much better. I have worked as a pro bono attorney at the facility in Aurora, CO run by GEO. The facility has had outbreaks of measles, chicken pox, and TB. The facility is dirty and poorly maintained. Many of these people have not committed any crimes other than having sought asylum or overstayed their visas. Americans should be ashamed; many of us have only been here for a generation or two, and our ancestors were treated much better.
3
@JaneF Our ancestors were not allowed on the boat unless they were healthy. They did not climb walls and complain when injured.
5
Would it not be easier just to withdraw from the 1951 Refugee Convention? The Prime Minister of Italy, Giuseppe Conte, told the European Parliament recently that the rules around immigration is unsustainable. I imagine the same analysis could be applied to the situation in the US.
20
Someone speeds down the road avoiding thugs shooting at them. They are breaking the law speeding so they should be treated like animals and punished.
When your neighbor asks for help by knocking on your door do you help them? Not in America. Many of these people knocked on the door and you said no. I say help them as I believe in liberty s d justice for all. I also believe we should help Americans but everyone I try to support some form of assistance or ideas you destroy it as socialist and defund it instead of going through Congress to end the institution.
So now desperate as they are these people try to get to friends and family that live here in America in the hopes of help. You stop them at gun point and tell them they are not welcome here. In fact you even knowingly assist in actions that will ultimately end in their deaths.
Why don’t you just assist them in declaring themselves at the boarder and give them proper documentation so they can go on with their lives? Some will leave, some will stay. Some may even join the military and help defend liberty and justice for all.
Let’s just turn out the lights on liberty. Hand the Saudis, nuclear power plants and complain about suffering people trying to escaped a horrible existence. Never mind that we probably have actually exasperated their problem by our own political actions in their countries. And never mind our drug addictions. That’s their fault, not ours!
Would you accept someone breaking into your home because theirs has a leak or no heat?
6
House them all in Trump hotels.
Conservatives love to say, “if you love refugees so much, why don’t you let them sleep in your house?” Well, if you love locking them up so much, why don’t you let ICE lock them up in your living room? I’m sure they’re less likely to steal your job if they can watch pro wrestling on your TV.
4
@citybumpkin
We don't love locking them up. With an effective border control policy, we wouldn't have to. And don't cite ICE: your fellows are the ones who want to abolish, or emasculate, that department.
5
The conditions described in this article are unacceptable by any standard. Pontificating on the right or the wrong of migrants arriving on our Mexican border is pointless and those who imply that migrants should be punished by sickness and death as a deterrent for others seeking asylum are contemptible.
It's time for us to start dealing with these problems in responsible, sane, and humane manner. Wall or no wall, migrants will continue to come. It is our duty to stop playing politics and start behaving like the people we represent ourselves to the world as being: Americans who stand on the side of compassion and honor.
4
It's quite something to read all these comments decrying illegal immigrants for "demanding healthcare" and how wrong it is because "legal citizens in this country are suffering so horribly, so why should these illegals be getting healthcare?" Here's an idea: how about advocating for a decent society in which all legal residents have access to decent healthcare and in which detainees are given adequate care so they don't, you know, DIE and stuff in custody?
55
@Andymac feel free to give to your local charity to support this noble cause. Idealistic notions such as yours are surprisingly inexpensive and easy to implement, until you actually try to do it.
30
@Andymac I would like all citizens to have a decent healthcare and I would not like to extend that to migrants. Because if we do the latter a far larger number of poor will try to migrate to the US and die on the way, as they are doing, by drowning, while trying to migrate to Europe from Africa. Because that will attract people from distant lands to enter the US from Mexico, - as South Asians and Chinese are already doing. By being harsh today we will most certainly have to be far less harsh in the long run.
19
@Malone The comments section has made me realize that there is no hope for the USA. Our racism will be our undoing - as it should be. So went Rome, Byzantine, etc so goes the USA. Makes me also wonder where all of the bigots came from?
8
I'm truly thankful, that when my grandparents came to Ellis Island 100 years ago, they weren't treated by immigration authorities like these families at our southern border. They had no papers and very little money and a suitcase of belongings and were greeted by one of the dozens of immigration workers that spoke all the different languages of mostly Europe. All that changed with the Immigration Act of 1924.
Now hundreds of thousands a year fly-in and casually overstay their visas and generally go about their business unmolested by our government. As opposed to anyone (brown) on our southern border, that get treated like lepers. With a president who mocks and demeans them, as well as many who've been in America longer then the Trump's from Germany and his immigrant mother from Scotland. Besides a wife, who flew in on a visa and got special fast-track treatment to gain her citizenship. Only to become a 'anchor baby' for her parents that gained their citizenship through 'chain' migration.
9
@Jim You weren't allowed on the boat unless you were healthy. No one demanded Americans back then pay for their high blood pressure meds.
They are not treated like lepers. They're treated like people who are breaking our laws and not entitled to subsides from the American public for having done so.
4
I take care of people all the time who come straight from the airport to the ER with chronic problems, and the reason they come to the US (where they have family) is to get free medical care. Neither they, nor the people described in this article, are immigrants. In my case, they are cheaters who are taking advantage of a system designed to protect Americans, not to provide medical care to the world for free. In the illegal border crossers, these are people claiming "assylum" but crossed other countries to come here because we give better freebies.
Do I blame them? Not one bit. I blame us. We cannot afford to pay for everything for everybody. Until our own are taken care of (and not by just increasing the taxes of those who make money), we cannot afford to care for the world.
48
Are we sure the most privileged of we Americans can afford to pay for the care of unlimited economic immigrants - while providing even better care than today for our own disadvantaged and working poor?
19
Although the wish to secure borders may be sound, do we have to dehumanize those folks seeking refuge, escaping violence elsewhere...only to find more violence in these United States, a land made up eminently by immigrants (like you and me)?
6
The Border Patrol is notoriously without adult supervision. Its inward-turned culture, with bad apples instilling bad behaviors in new recruits, is legendary. No one in Washington, DC, is really in charge: Homeland Security's grasp of persistent realities in the Borderlands is so thin -- not just regarding the Border Patrol, but definitely including it -- that the Department for all intents and purposes might just as well not exist at all.
Those of us Americans who stop at interior Border Patrol checkpoints are usually treated with courtesy and a "Have a Nice Day," but the Border Patrol's policy of dumping legal asylum seekers in front of shopping malls and charity headquarters negates any goodwill that we who live here might like to manifest toward the Border Patrol.
So the Border Patrol becomes ever more self-referential and in a weird turn, paranoiac regarding its public standing, a fear which it translates too often into callousness and/or brutality toward would-be immigrants. I have a hard time squaring my good personal relations with a few hard-pressed, but trying their best, Border Patrol agents in Nogales, Arizona, with the larger organization's dismal behavior and inability to alter its bully-boy culture.
What's wrong at the top? No one cares.
6
Why is it this Country's obligation to provide health care for migrants? If these incentives remain in place, then migrants will continue to come. When will those on the left - the "compassionate" - realize that by continuing to permit this situation, we're giving incentives to migrants to take their children on dangerous journeys that would be unequivocally be considered child abuse here. A lot of NYT readership will make some comment about "that's who we are" but I suspect few, if not none, ever have to have any exposure to the migrant situation, nor do they feel the immediate or long term consequences. Just another "virtue" to signal.
34
The border patrol is now saying they only catch 1 on 3. That means there are another 6,000 per day they dont see. 8000 per day is 240,000 per month, almost 3 million per year. And on top of open borders, Democrats are calling to abolish ICE, add free healthcare and tuition. The incentive would be for everyone in the undeveloped world to come here. All on your tax dollars. Sounds like a plan. A very anti american plan.
29
The art for this story--picture of agent, mother and child--is poignant propaganda but the reality is that, if allowed to stay in the US, both will draw more from the public weal than they will ever contribute in at least a generation.
How much poverty can the US import before its untimely death?
That's the rub and the reality being willingly ignored by the cultural Marxists obsessed with destroying this nation.
26
I am surprised at the hate most of these comments are projecting. The migrants are seeking asylum, which they are supposed to be able to do under the law. They are packed into dirty cold rooms with concrete floors, given a mylar "blanket" which is more like a piece of silver plastic tarp. Try staying warm on a concrete floor with only that.
They are not totally irresponsible; they had planned to take care of themselves, because they they had brought their BP meds, heart meds, antibiotics for their sick kids. But these meds are confiscated by Border patrol personnel! And yet the comments mostly seem to say it is the migrant's own fault for getting sick after entering the US. Suppose you had a health condition that required medication, and you went to a foreign country for some reason, and the Border patrol/immigration officers at the port of entry took away your medications, how long would you stay well? Animal control takes better care of stray dogs. Would you rather be treated like a dog, or like an asylum seeker at the US border with Mexico.
6
@Patricia J Thomas They are economic migrants not entitled to asylum.
5
I think that Mexico needs to step up its services to provide top-notch health care to the people attempting to illegally enter the United States.
19
Where are these "volunteer physicians at the private clinic were the first doctors many had seen since crossing the border" for American citizens who are homeless and many times worse off than these illegal immigrants invading from the south? Nada is the answer. Strange behavior when the health of citizens is less important than invaders?
24
Instead of spending all that money on border security, we should give grants to various Central and South American countries to build new towns (with various facilities -- hospitals, schools, libraries, and factories or farms) which people could settle (and do a good of bit of labor themselves) and have peaceful lives. Meantime, we do have many smaller cities losing population -- the factories went off to China long ago. We have a FED that thinks a 2% rate of inflation annually is a good thing, a peculiar medical system with lots of middle men; we throw away more expensive food than we consume (I am sure!!); we do not educate people to believe work is honorable and that to do right thing is honorable, etc. And sadly most immigrants have their eyes it seems on Chicago, LA, or NYC.
We don't really make anything here. It's cheaper to make it there!! (and the cost of medication!
We will not save every person but sleeping on a cold concrete floor with no pad underneath and not having sufficient food (nor any education for the migrant children living in the tent cities.) We can do better.
3
You can't incarcerate someone without providing the basic elements for survival that someone would seek out if they were free. Like medical care. Food. Drinking water. A means of cleaning oneself. Physical relief from cold or heat.
Absolute basics.
If the US isn't willing to provide this to the incarcerated, it needs to stop incarcerating people.
46
@Djt
The Border Patrol is detaining about 2,300 migrants per day, or about 803,000 per year. The U.S. mortality rate is 849.3 deaths per 100,000 population. So one would expect about 6,795 of the 803,000 detainees to die this year, even if they were immediately released from custody.
8
@Djt absolutely it needs to stop incarcerating them and immediately deport them back to their home countries. There is a correct way and an incorrect way to enter this country. If you choose the correct way, you would obtain the entry documents from a US State Dept. facility near where you live and would not risk undertaking a clearly dangerous journey that carries a very uncertain outcome. But if you choose the incorrect way and make the journey on foot, during which you contract any number of ailments and perhaps even get victimized by criminal elements, well then you should not expect to be entitled to anything. If you receive care, great. If you do not, well you took on that risk when you abandoned your home country for the unknowns just beyond the horizon. The only immigrants who deserve care are the children, who are not the ones volitionally taking the journey but instead, are being put at great risk by parents who should know better.
22
@Djt "If the US isn't willing to provide this to the incarcerated, it needs to stop incarcerating people."
How about this instead: If illegal immigrants wish to avoid incarceration, they should stop violating US law by immigrating illegally and peddling fabricated tall tales for the purpose of obtaining asylum under false pretenses.
Besides, we all know that even if the entire population of Latin America were allowed to cross into the United States with no questions asked, the New York Times and other open borders enthusiasts would be demanding that they also receive taxpayer funded healthcare upon arrival. That's the real reason this story was published.
22
Let me get this straight. If someone is injured while breaking into my house, I’m supposed to welcome them with top-notch medical care upon entry, and if I don’t, they can sue me for damages incurred as a result of me not providing them with this medical care? While I voted for Hillary, it’s stuff like this, plus socialist nonsense spewed by the likes of AOC, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders that has moved me closer and closer to the Trump side with each passing day. If the next presidential election was tomorrow, I’d be voting for Trump. I never thought I’d say that but here I am.
47
This horror is on us!!! The entire country should have stood up and stopped this. Putting innocent children in cages!!! Turning away mothers hoping to give their babies a better life only to have them molested and treated like animals.We have learned nothing from Native American genocide,Auschwitz,Selma,Iraq.We are too full of ourselves to care. We are a disgrace.
8
@cocobeauvier The whole world wants a better life. The solution is to that search is not moving here.
4
Such slanted, biased reporting.
These are remote border crossings, not in middle of urban centers where health-care is readily available.
20
@MS
Such reporting is the specialite de la maison.
9
How pathetically predictable that nearly every "NYT Pick" supports illegal immigrants, while a clear majority of reader comments understands that the US needs to prioritize its own citizens and legal immigrants.
47
In what other set of circumstances are the police expected to provide health care for those arrested for breaking the law? If a mugger has a fever, is it the responsibility of the police to bring it down?
The responsibility of the Border Patrol is to enforce the laws. If these alleged lawbreakers are taken into custody and held, then and only then is it the responsibility of whoever is running the custodial facility to treat them. However, the majority opinion seems to be that these people should not be held in custody but released on their own recognizance until their court appearances. If that is done, it becomes the individual's own responsibility to obtain necessary medical treatment.
20
United Hospital in Portchester NY was forced to close in 2004 due to a flood of sick (mostly mexican) illegals coming to the emergency room and having neither cash nor credit nor health insurance. Obligatory treatment of them eventually forced this venerable institution (1889) into financial insolvency.
Now I suppose I’ll be called a “racist” and “ hater” for bringing up this indisputable fact.
49
@Dr. Norman Fatberg
Truth teller.
8
No, but I’ll call you ignorant and wonder why you insist on remaining so. Here’s an article from 2005 from the NYTimes about the closure, which cites as the main reasons years of *declining* hospitalizations and sharply increasing costs. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/04/nyregion/hospitals-closing-not-seen-as-a-public-peril.html The article notes the two other hospitals within 6 miles, and the general assessment that the closure will not adversely affect the community. Nothing about your imaginary immigrant hordes, alas.
2
The U.S. needs to intervene in some way to help make the Central American nations livable. I realize that the U.S. has intervened in these nations in the past on the wrong side of history, propping up dictators and thwarting popular democratic movements. Perhaps it has learned from its mistakes and could now intervene in a way that would establish the rule of law and the preconditions for economic development to improve the lives of the citizens there.
Resources spent in that direction might reduce the resources needed for border enforcement and prevent many tragedies associated with dangerous attempts to cross the border in desperation.
9
@Robert M Birth control and books and teaching materials for children. No more cash to be misappropriated
2
Border between the U.S. and Canada is OK. But why is the border between the U.S. and Mexico not OK?
These immigrants come to the U.S. primarily to escape problems in their native countries (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) which includes a stagnant economy, high levels of crime, political corruption and widespread drug use. There is a legal way to request a green card to enter the U.S., however unlawful mobs entry is not allowed. Shame and disgrace of all these central American countries and their governments who fail to feed their people, to give them medical care, good housing, and jobs. These central American countries and their governments are the ones at fault.
Sorry that your country does not love you anymore. To find true love you need to find and walk on God’s Holy road which will one day open the gate to His Kingdom in Heaven. The road you are currently walking is man made and will only bring you tears and despair, darkness and regrets.
5
Maybe should have stayed home?
You cannot put you and your baby in danger, then blame others for your lot in life.
Mexico has socialized medicine, and offered these freeloaders to stay there instead of making the trip. But they made it anyway.
Their body, their choice
40
The detention centers at the border are not, and were never intended to be, health care facilities. The infrastructure is not in place to provide full scale health care services.
These migrants put their health, and the health of their children, in their own hands when they choose to take the journey to illegal cross the US border.
35
These are the actions of a nation that, if it was denying American citizens medical care while in custody, we would call barbaric. This is a measure of how low our country has sunk under the leadership of Republicans and racists.
5
American citizens are being denied medical care while illegals aren't
26
There are very sad stories in these comments about U.S. residents and citizens unable to afford medical care for serious conditions. The two separate issues are (1)Lack of Health Care in U.S., and (2) Immigration Law and Enforcement. BOTH need the attention of the U.S. government! Single Payer Health Insurance for All U.S. Citizens and Residents! Just like all the other countries in the developed world!
5
They don’t want it because it’s socialist mumbo jumbo! Also if we provided proper health care they couldn’t justify their actions of Americans need help! They play the victim so they can cause suffering to immigrants seeking asylum and justify it.
1
That’s socialism! They don’t want it! They want to play the victim instead and say we need to help America’s first so they can justify their brutish behaviors!
Why does the New York Times keep framing this as a lack or lapse of care, or limited resources? It is obvious that in most of these cases, the abuse or neglect was deliberate, and when no one gives voice to that it makes the effort to stop it that much harder.
5
I was taught that Jesus said, “whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me”. These are poor and desperate people I need of help. How could anyone justify not caring for them and sleep at night? They are fleeing out of desperation. Are we a good, generous and kind country or a selfish, greedy and judgmental country?
6
@Patriot1776 I don't care what Jesus said. It is not my government's responsibility to care for poor non citizens. Good and kind does not consist of open borders.
But do feel free to tell us not to judge when you do that very thing.
3
So will the likes of Bernie Sanders or AOC offer free health care to the entire world next?
21
"'The men and women of C.B.P. and ICE are doing the best they can with what they have, but they don’t have the facilities, the resources or the legal authorities to keep up with this crisis.'"--Kirstjen Nielsen
If they don't have what they need to properly screen migrant who seek asylum for illness, then it is Ms. Nielsen's responsibility to see that they get those things. She could have been doing this rather than ripping babies and children from their mothers' arms and failing to return them to their families.
3
@Barbara If any citizen were to pay human smugglers to traffick their kids a thousand miles across the desert they would be charged with reckless endangerment. We get arrested for leaving ours kids in a car in front of a store or letting them play too far from sight. Why should these migrants be held to a much lower standard and not held accountable for their grossly negligent actions?
15
Apprehensions at the southern border, according to npr this am, have jumped 90% from the previous year. Clearly the word is out that you can still get into the us by just showing up and presenting yourself and claiming asylum. The vast majority of these claims are for economic migrants from vastly over populated countries in Central America. Many are bringing chronic medical problems with them to gain access to the us medical system. Our asylum laws need to be reviewed and changed to reflect the current state of a system being overwhelmed and gamed to get access to this country. We can help these people in their home countries, but the time of simply moving them all here is long over and cannot be used as a cure for central americas or the worlds problems. With 7.8 billion people and almost half living on less than 5$/day the solutions to these problems no longer lies in moving them to the west. Europe has shown us that future and it doesn’t work.
28
A little perspective would help. How do you think the residents of New Mexico, for instance, feel when there is so much focus on the medical needs of non-Americans coming, when their own access is extremely limited?
From the Albuquerque Journal [Feb.16]: "As of last week, not a single primary care physician in one of the state’s largest group of medical providers was accepting new patients...."
29
I understand that this is a complex subject. Humanitarianism VS Cost. Humanitarianism VS Expediency. Humanitarianism VS Religious values. Oh wait, I thought our best religious values were about humanitarianism? Only in church with others like me I guess.
But how the subject is approached is the basis on which it is addressed. If the subject is approached on the basis that people deserve to suffer and be in pain for their transgressions the result will be different than if the subject is approached that people should not suffer or be in pain.
Remember "He's not hurting the people he is supposed to be hurting." Remember its not enough that some people may not benefit from rules or laws but that others must suffer for it to be make some people happy.
3
Another example of the institutionized cruelty of the Trump regime.
9
I'm a tax paying US Citizen
Where's my free healthcare?
37
@Luciano Fortunate you, and me, to be tax paying US Citizens.
The people fleeing violence would clearly do anything to trade places with us - including pay taxes,.
6
True but that changes nothing. Most people on earth would like to come here. That doesn’t make it a good idea for us.
15
@TFB and yet we're such a terrible, awful, no good place, right?
2
Nielsen operates the kind of system we would have expected of Nazi Germany back in the 1930s/1940s, save for the mass murders. This is international criminal behavior and deserves to be prosecuted at an international level because it targets victims of foreign nationalities, many of whom may well have valid, legal refugee claims by international standards. But neither she nor the others involved will be so prosecuted because the US does not participate in those legal arrangements - how clever.
The fact that Trump seems to think he has billions to spend on a wall makes nonsense of the excuse that they cannot keep up with it. It's just a matter of priorities and resources. Brown-skinned refugees just don't count for that much in the calculus of these callous administrators. The refugees are people to be shunned rather than treated with the minimum of human decency that would be expected of a civilized society.
7
We are becoming an evil empire.
8
So... We have become the de-facto health care provider of every country whose citizens can make it to our borders.
And, if they get here pregnant, they get a citizen kid if they can get across.
This is ridiculous.
41
"In December, two migrant children — Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7, and Felipe Gómez Alonzo, 8 — died within three weeks of each other after showing signs of illness while being held and transported by Border Patrol agents in Texas and New Mexico."
Both of these children arrived with their fathers. Investigative reporters learned that their fathers came for economic reasons. Their fathers had heard that they would be allowed into the U.S. if they arrived with a child, and requested asylum.
A Daily Beast article, titled "Father of Dead Guatemalan Boy Crossed the Border to Flee Poverty” said, "In Guatemala, the family reportedly lived in extreme poverty, with Gomez making only about $6 a day to support his six children in a house without floors.”
A 12/18/18 NYT report titled "In Home Village of Girl Who Died in U.S. Custody, Poverty Drives Migration “ the mayor, Mr. Castro, was asked about why 200 families had recently left for the U.S. “Somebody came and tricked people and told them, ‘I will get you political asylum — and take a child with you,’” Mr. Castro speculated. “It’s a new tactic, and people believe it because of their poverty.”
President Obama’s “catch & release” policy of allowing anyone who arrived here with a child to be let loose in our country has encouraged everyone to come here, as long as they come with a child, regardless of how difficult the journey might be for the child.
35
@ann
Excellent comment including the research.
5
If a Wall were built and if they wall stopped the 2,000 or more
undocumented Immigrants from entering would that improve the situation.
Let there be a national data base of jobs.
If Americans will not take those jobs, then let
Immigrants apply for those jobs and if hired
given a Work Card valid for a year.
The Immigrants can then cross the border legally and be
paid at least minimum wage and work in safe environments.
The same sub-standard of medical care or the lack of it
is present in our prison/jails.
11
2,200 a day is over 800,000 in a year!!! Haven't we seen a bunch of artilces lately saying that border crossing were down significantly? This is why we need a wall!!! In addition, I feel sorry for the human suffering but this is self imposed and easily avoidable.
Are you required to give medical care to someone who breaks into your house and then gets injured in doing it???
36
The only thing more shocking than this article is the callousness of so many of the comments in response to it. Since when did cruelty become policy? And how can this be acceptable to so many fellow citizens of a country I love but no longer recognize?
6
We can't afford them
12
So, if you want a check up and access to top quality health care at no cost, just cross the boarder illegally and get caught. Sounds like a plan.
33
Why don't we just not let them in?
I don't know that we need a border wall. But we certainly don't need a series of free medical clinics devoted to illegal immigrants when American citizens can't get free medical care.
Moreover, if they are bringing infectious diseases, they are putting our population at risk.
Turn people away at the border and let them get medical help in Mexico. Otherwise, we are setting ourselves up as a magnet for people with health problems to get free care.
21
"Complaints filed over the past few years included a mother who gave birth prematurely and was later forced to stay with the baby in a “dirty hold room,” …”
For the past several decades, pregnant migrants have illegally crossed the border with the intention of giving birth in our country. Many have waited near the border until they went into labor, and then rushed across, telling U.S. officials they had to go to a hospital right away. The migrants knew their babies would be delivered free of charge and would be considered U.S. citizens, worthy of the entire menu of welfare benefits. The migrants also knew that once they had children who were U.S. citizens that it would be hard for the U.S. to deport them and easier for them to gain legal status.
Other pregnant migrants illegal cross the border before entering labor. Illegal migrants are allowed to receive WIC nutritional supplements and free health care. This was probably what the woman described above was expecting.
Crossing the border, when pregnant, has typically been a successful strategy.
25
The tone of this article is how we treat these migrants badly and fail to provide for their myriad needs.
The solution to this problem is for Congress to revamp our asylum laws to keep these people out so we don't have to give them anything!
According to the information presented in this article, 2,200 migrants are entering the country via the Southern border a day. That's over 800,000 a year!
Considering that these people are largely uneducated, destitute and in poor health, how is this wave of mass migration not a massive burden on us, the American people? This situation is completely unsustainable.
I demand that our leaders in Congress and the White House put a stop to this mass illegal immigration. Gaming our asylum laws to gain entry to the US is unacceptable.
Deport those that are here already and keep out those that seek to get in.
25
If they're coming to the U.S., they should get used to the health care system for people without money, i.e. little to none.
9
The responsibility for the health and welfare of the immigrants are solely theirs. They put their lives and those of their children with actions that would get any American parent arrested and put in jail.
So should we provide a complete, and free, medical checkup on the thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants?
Regarding applying for asylum, the international agreement is that they can apply at the first country they enter, which would be Mexico. They have no right to skip that process and apply in the US.
Here is the big question: if politicians choose to not apply the law for illegals than what right do they have to demand that law abiding American citizens follow the law?
20
They are elitist inspired and supported hoards brought to the US to support the tyrants in their countries and keep the caste system of failed totalitarianism in power by draining capitalist resources in the name of "Humanitarianism".
They serve the interests of elitists, to reduce the working, succeeding, producing middle class that made the US the envy of Earth by equalizing misery and elevating the generational connected to continuous control.
7
this article failed to point out these migrants crossed the border and are now being released into the United States. Of course, it is difficult to take care of them properly because there is no available infrastructure. The lack of medical infrastructure for those that have crossed must have also been the case with Obama, and obama failed to develop it. On top of that, obama failed to address solutions to impede illegal entry. Trump basically inherited Obama's condition despite and trump seems to be developing some solutions - the comments in this section do not understand these points.
11
I wonder what will happen in the future due to Trumps PR relations with Mexico.
How easy would it be for some organized terrorist group to come up through Mexico and recruit the locals against the US.
1
Sadly, millions of Americans received similarly subpar health care before Obamacare, which Republicans want to repeal.
3
I handled the bills for a close relative who recently passed away from cancer, and I can testify to the high out-of-pocket expenses associated with care for such patients, even those with supposedly "good" insurance. We in this country have got to implement a decent system of universal coverage for our own citizens. When our own, tax-paying citizens have ready, affordable access to comprehensive medical care, we can figure out what resources are available to treat the medical needs of others.
Furthermore, we are being asked to cover the cost of reckless breeding on the part of many who present themselves and their kids at the border, among others looking to benefit from our already badly strained safety net programs. So often, I read about nineteen-year-old mothers coming here with several kids, or about families coming here with seven kids not far apart in age. No birth control for them, thank-you!
Many of us in this country consider carefully how many kids we have. We appreciate the responsibilities and the expense of raising them. So many of the migrants expect others to care for the kids they bring into this world with nary a thought as to how to provide for them.
The situation described in this article is sure to bolster support for Trump, including among lifelong Democrats.
21
@Granny
Indeed it will.
2
US taxpayers have spent billions of dollars on military aid to dictators in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua from the 1950s until today. We trained their soldiers here and those soldiers went back and repressed and massacred their own citizens. Corruption was and is rampant as the dictators used public funds and international aid to enrich themselves and their cronies.
The United States has always supported these corrupt and cruel regimes. Education, healthcare, public safety, and land reform were all unfunded. After generations of such misery and abuse, it is not surprising that people from these countries take to the road to try to have some hope for the future for themselves and their children. It’s too bad that the US has historically sided with the criminal political elites. But in order to alleviate the crises in Central America, the US needs to fund international aid programs in health, education, sanitation, etc., in order to improve the lives of the people there.
These people are not our enemies, they have so much in common with the people of the US. We are all part of the communities of the Western Hemisphere, populated by indigenous peoples and people from Africa, Europe and Asia. We have that in common, unlike anywhere else. We are all Americans.
3
It's up to every American at every town hall meeting with ALL politicians (Republicans, Independents, and Democrats) to demand enforceable eVerify and stiff penalties for violators from the big corporation to the small mom & pop shop down to the person who hires the nanny/maid. This cuts across party lines and all politicans must be held accountable.
Then, if there is a need for labor, then it will have to be through legal means which will also be good for the migrants.
4
How any conservative can call themself a "Christian" and support this inhumane treatment of mothers and children who are simply seeking asylum from murder and violence in their own. is unconscionable and beyond belief.
How low can we go in this Trump "Be Best" America!
1
@JM
I know this is going to seem like a shock to you but..there are Conservatives in the US who are not "Christians"
And this issue has nothing to do with "Be Best" America as you call it..
It has to do with a crisis(as detailed by this article and as declared by our President) at our southern border which we are struggling to maintain some sense of order from the huge influx of people coming to our borders,
Many of which are not "mothers and children simply seeking asylum"
5
Maybe Jesus had it right when he asked us to take care of the weak, the poor and the sick.
49
Did Jesus bother to include who was going to pay for it? Americans and indeed the world has hundreds of millions of people needing medical attention. Good intentions are a nice talking point but they don’t cure anybody.
12
@Gene
Charity begins at home....Jesus also said there would always be poor....
8
@Al
The Good Samaritan let the inn keeper know in no uncertain terms that he was going to pay for the care of the man who had fallen among thieves.
I believe, though I may be wrong, that Jesus counseled us "to go and do likewise."
3
The number of migrants from Central American has been climbing from 55,000 (Jan) to 70,000 (Feb) and is projected to reach 100,000 by March and April.
In less than a year, that's going to be more than the population of San Francisco.
And now it looks like it would be more than the population of San Francisco with many complex medical problems.
This is unsustainable. And at this point, I don't care what you call me--xenophobic, racist, etc.
45
The US border very obviously has not ever been able to provide minimal food, clean water, beds, and of course medical treatment. According to many reports however, the Border Patrol has employed persons who sexually abuse children and rape women and beat men. Trump's separating children from their caretakers/family was in some ways a blessing - at least they were free from the monsters who work there. However, the government had not any record of where many of these victims were sent. Is this the USA? Are you proud to be an American??? I'm not.
10
And your solution? Let them all in? Who pays for this influx of people? We can help them at home and try to improve those conditions. Turning the us into Central America is not acceptable to many of us.
8
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
7
@ToddTsch
This is perhaps the only time I have seen the Bible quoted here without the requisite sneer.
3
Build the wall now!!!!!!
38
Do American Hispanics support border crossings by non-citizens so they can obtain free care?
23
Good question, Dr John. Speaking from personal experience, the feelings are mixed. For background purposes, my wife is Hispanic from the Brownsville area, I’m a white boy originally from Ohio.
All if my in-laws are Hispanic. My wife (undergraduate degree), mother-in-law (teacher), sister-in-law (masters degree) her husband (undergraduate degree & works for the Border Patrol) and one brother (undergraduate degree) are vehemently against the illegal crossings. In fact, my sister-in-law has had her feelings about the “golden ticket” printed in the local paper’s opinion page. The “golden ticket” is the name they have for pregnant women waiting at the border until they go into labor then coming across for free medical benefits & having a US citizen child.
My father-in-law (teacher) & other brother-in-law (masters) want everyone that can sneak in to the country to do so to create better lives for themselves.
These are all highly educated people from the same family. The difference in perspective is astounding. We’ve had some pretty spirited dinner table conversations during holidays. Nobody brings it up anymore because of the passion in both sides.
It’s not an easy subject to address, especially with the people that live near the border but something needs to be done. The laws need to change to protect our country & to help those in need. But we shouldn’t help them at the expense of American taxpayers that can’t get the same benefits.
2
According to a recent Yale study, there are over 20 MILLION foreign nationals residing in our country illegally. We spend $billions (year after year) tending to the problems generated by these people and their offspring. Enough already! Our government’s obligation is to act in the best interests of our own citizenry, and that doesn’t include playing host, patron, and nursemaid to millions of illegal aliens brazenly trespassing into our country. Stop it!
42
This is why we need open borders and the immediate right to vote. Without the vote these migrant new citizens will lack the protection they need from America’s corrupt and illegal regime. If the wealthy would only pay their fair share then no one suffers.
3
@Fred That actually will never ever happen...voting rights are defined in the Constitution and it won't be amended for those who knowingly break the law and who have no rights anyway because they're not citizens. We're not re-writing the constitution for these people.
5
We rewrote it for Trump.
1
Another sign of a useless President and heartless Trump Administration policy.
13
At the risk of sounding heartless, I find it ironic that hopeful migrants can get medical attention for a range of ills but I, an American-born retiree with Medicaid, cannot get in to see the doctors I need because none of them will accept this insurance. I am sick, aching, cramping, congested, limping and inflamed in various areas of my body, but with Medicaid I cannot get a doctor’s appointment to save my life, as it were, so my so-called health insurance is literally endangering my health. In what universe does a senior citizen of the USA start to envy the medical treatment of someone walking in from central America? I never want to see any child or teenager or adult in misery but I’m tired of being in that condition myself. When my pains and infections are vanquished by the three specialists that I need, then I will be able to show some sympathy for sick migrants at the border, as your article clearly expects me to do.
84
@Cherie No need to apologize. To the extent that anyone should get free health care your place in line should certainly be ahead of an interloper.
15
@Cherie
Fly to LA, throw your drivers license in the trash, walk into an ER, get treatment, and then walk out and don't pay.
If the US doesn't want to give you an incentive to be a legal citizen, you can become an illegal one.
21
The humanitarian crisis that causes people to risk their lives to seek asylum must be addressed in their home country
Trump’s wall or better medical facilities and more humane CBP policies are not solutions. They are nothing more than stopgap measures from different sides of the immigrant debate in this country
What are we doing or can we do to either help or force these Central American countries to address their own problems?
21
except the problems in Central America are not ”their own”. They’re bought and paid for by the USA.
2
@GregSnell
The USA is helping those countries, or trying to. I continually see US government job announcements with assignments in these countries working with their governments to fight crime, etc.
1
The Central American countries are addressing their problems. They are encouraging their poor people to migrate north.
12
I feel bad for those people that come from lawless countries with corrupt government, so hopeless they have to try to sneak into the US. Be it not for the grace of God it could’ve been me. But it’s not.
When the people of this country got tired of the tyranny of British rule they banded together & fought for their freedom. Has it ever occurred to the illegals that they could name together & make changes in their home country? Or is it just easier to sneak into a country that they can hide in & reap the benefits we, as taxpayers provide?
If my kids get sick or injured I have to pay for it. The fact that my tax dollars pay for illegals’ benefits instead of our citizens is repulsive to me. I’ve been paying taxes for over 40 years & don’t get that consideration. When every child in the US is provided with free health care the government can take what’s left in that budget & care for people trying to sneak into the States.
And how about if the smoke & mirrors administration takes the money the trumpster fire wants for the ridiculous wall & diverts it to health care?!???
26
Just imagine if you lived in a small little poor country. And tried to rise up. Fight and die for your freedom you say. But wait...
The US sends their corporations. Russians send their monied interests. China sends theirs!
Rise up but don’t touch the special interests! If they win and setup a democratic state we don’t agree with or is in conflict with US corporate profits will we support them after they have died and bled?
Nope. Will seek regime change.
1
It’s bizarre how many haters show up in the comments section whenever there’s an article discussing immigration by people of color. You just don’t see the hatred, the misstatements, the misunderstandings on most other topics.
Once again, folks, seeking asylum is LEGAL under US and international law. Immigrants are a net economic benefit to our country. They commit crimes at lower rates than indigenous Americans, and communities where they congregate tend to be safer. We gladly accept their discounted work with limited consequences for their employers. This includes the Trump organization. Employers are only sorry (temporarily) when they get caught, and then face light consequences.
Illegal immigrants generally have higher immunization rates and have to be relatively healthy to make the arduous journey north. Public health and prudence demand the ill within our borders receive appropriate, let alone humane, care. Once in custody, we become responsible for their wellbeing and providing due process. This isn’t Nazi Germany and we shouldn’t be committing crimes against humanity.
I don’t favor open borders or limitless immigration. We need comprehensive immigration reform that meters in the appropriate number of needed workers. Congress could solve this issue if allowed to vote. Instead, this issue festers for divisive political purposes.
Immigration, a relatively minor issue compared to others, will be the centerpiece of Trump’s 2020 run. The trolls won’t be far behind.
130
@Michael Tyndall
If you work a Minimum Wage job and your employer
is willing to hire un-documented Immigrants and pay them under the table, how are you ever to receive
a raise ?
If your children's school is overcrowded due to the
Supreme Court mandate that Un-documented
children be educated at local taxpayers expense
and provide ESL course that cause other courses
to be cancelled, how does that benefit your children.
If housing prices rise because landlords are willing to
rent to undocumented immigrants who are willing to
live 12 to an apartment, how does that help you
find affordable housing.
If the local public hospital is filled with un-documented immigrants seeking federally mandated medical care that the hospital is not paid for - how does that
help you and your family.
As for crime, why would you ever want to let anyone
in to your country if they are criminals but un-documented immigrants are not vetted by anyone.
As for Legal Claims for Asylum - it is supposed to filed at the first country they enter after they flee their country.
Undocumented Immigration is a time bomb that the
Poorest of Americans are supposed to hold while you and others use undocumented immigrants as wage-slaves and care not a whit about the U.S. Citizens who are poor, save you expect them to fight your wars.
Build the Wall and then regulate immigration so that
all Immigrants are legal and have the right to Minimum Wage and safe working conditions.
55
@Michael Tyndall
Well said. There is a huge difference between supporting open borders (most people do not, despite Republican rhetoric) and wanting sane and safe immigration policies and laws. Our lower birth rate means that we actually need immigrants at all skill and educational levels. The hatred that Trump has encouraged is shameful.
12
@Michael TyndallBut, how many should we take in?
9
This is obviously not a new problem and existed during the Obama years as well. But that does not mean that the billions Trump wants to spend on the wall shouldn't be placed towards humane treatment instead.
13
When will our country have a clear and rational immigration policy such as that of Canada? If that were in place, many of those undertaking the risky journey North will know at the outset whether it is worth it or not. The ambiguity now just abets what's happening at our Southern border.
25
The left wants to import as many low income democratic voters as possible. They don’t want a system like Canada’s.
5
So, take them all to the ER so we can screen them. That's what we are there for. You don't know a visit is unnecessary until after the patient has been evaluated.
EMTs are not "trained medical personnel." They have no degree. They are not trained in triage. They know BLS and ALS.
3
@jz Take ehm all to the ER? The cost to be seen in the ER for just a stomach ache can be $10k...minimum! There are no resources for this patients to all be shuffled through the ER. Most of them are showing up with injuries they would not have sustained had they not decided to break the law and cross the border. Unless they're coming with insurance cards emergency treatment is a NO.
4
I share sentiment expressed just below about how little coverage of Americans in difficulties as compared to these illegals is reported.
Folks may not know but if you are going to be a legal immigrant or even enter America legally on a work or a student visa - our government requires you to obtain medical clearances etc before you even get traveling papers.
In the old days, the common sight at airports was legal migrants clutching oversized envelopes with medical reports.
I know I was clutching one when I came to attend Caltech some 50 years back.
These illegals were not exactly screened to enter our country.
And for some of these folks to put a focus on why we can do no better - the better question is why do these illegals get a special treatment not typically afforded to legal immigrants.
But as the comment below says - observations like ours make us not just xenophobic but uncaring and other names.
37
Illegal is an adjective, not a noun.
1
@Neil I don't know from what nation you entered the United States. Speaking about Central American - and Latin America in general - the events of the past 50 years have made those regions vastly different than when you entered the US, thanks to many US- backed interventions and coups, including overthrows of democratically elected governments, and due to climate change, driven by the fossil fuel industry of with the US under Trump is a champion. I don't assume you're xenophobic.
You do seem casual in your dismissal of how different the world is now for these desperate people than it may have been for you 50 years ago due in large part to US policy in Central and Latin America, US unwillingness to formulate immigration policy, and US unwillingness to address climate change.
Add to that America's big pharma, which has driven the opioid epidemic, which in turn has driven the desire for illegal heroin in the US, which in turn is driving gang violence in Central America from which many of these poor people flee.
The US is indeed in debt to these people.
1
Hooray for Catholic Relief Services! I’m going to send them a check today!! And I suggest that anyone sympathetic to the plight of these poor people should do the same through their chosen charity doing this kind of work.
This article deals with tragedies resulting from complicated problems and It doesn’t seem to be balanced reporting to me. The source of the personal tragedies begins with the decision to come to the US illegally or for some form of asylum. I would rather see tax dollars spent on:
A)Immigration reform. We need a system that works better than what we’ve got.
B) Solving problems in the Country of origin. We simply can’t absorb every poor soul who believes if he/she can get here they are allowed to stay here. (disengagement around the world aggravates the immigration problem)
Being a great nation requires that we treat the sick with compassion but not fixing the root cause (as best we can) will only lead to an unending parade of tragedies.
7
@Buck I work in pediatric hospital in the USA and once a child with cancer turns 19 they are kicked off Medicaid though they still need treatment. I think those donations youre begging for should go to treat US citizens who have fatal conditions and no insurance. Citizens first.
12
Zero-sum thinking.
@ATLee
By way of clarification there is no begging here, just a suggestion for interested parties...there’s a difference. Voluntary charity is no crime. And I do support cancer research here in the US, it isn’t really all or nothing.
This is sad, but U.S. citizens are dying also because they can't get proper healthcare, afford prescriptions, etc. We have people dying from toothaches that go septic because they can't afford the antibiotics. The price of insulin has skyrocketed and become untenable for most. It's not just a migrants at the border problem.
34
They sky rocket because of people like Trump! And you keep assisting them in robing us of trillions of dollars. But that’s okay, they didn’t break in. They just stole everything legally through intimation and manipulation of our legal system.
It’s really simple. Don’t come to seek so called asylum or try to sneak into the US. Gang violence or economic hardship do not qualify for asylum, don’t try to game the system by applying for asylum and then disappear into the illegal immigrant population underground.
These illegal immigrants or asylum seekers incur those physical wounds due to their effort to get into the US by hook or crook. It is not US tax payers responsibility to pay for their treatments. Period.
33
I worked in a Vietnamese “boat people” refugee camp in Malaysia in 1982; the Malaysians didn’t want them in their country either. It was considered a camp of first asylum, until the refugees could be interviewed and placed to other countries. There was a small “sick bay” staffed by expatriate workers and Vietnamese, while being held. The very sickest could be transferred to the mainland hospital for a time, or moved to an accepting country.
My point being— let’s take care of each individual as an unique human being, with unknown potential to change our world. Obviously there are people in the US who don’t want these people here, but.....they are here. Please, let’s treat them as we would want our loved ones treated. No one becomes a refugee because it is fun. No one is bringing their children hundreds of miles and putting them in danger for no reason.
8
@Stephanie Silianoff Food, water and shelter from the weather is humane treatment. Free medical care is a privilege they're not entitled to.
5
Overwhelming cruelty on the part of our government. It is shameful. Thank you NY Times for bringing it to our attention. Now we must do something - this is our government acting in this inhumane way. The total incompetence is staggering.
Please contact your representatives and senators and urge them to take action. The Trump administration could care less.
At least some of us citizens do care.
7
Thanks for this article. It is a horrendously complex situation. The letters I see here either show helpless compassion or a crude rage that anyone should treat "them" as important when there is a "we" who might be suffering and dying. The latter group seems to assume that only by killing people of a particular color can the white race survive--that for every Latin child who lives, a US vet or elderly person is in pain.
I think the people in the latter group should congratulate you for this coverage, since it may reach potential migrants and discourage them from seeking life in the U.S.
2
We keep on hearing how it is the US Border agent's job to care for all these people who cross the Mexican Border, but when did it become the American people's responsibility to take care of the criminals that choose to come to this nation illegally. If I tried to cross into Canida illegally and I was sick or injured I'd be sent back into the US. I'm tired of people not using common sense nowadays and instead blame Trump for everything going wrong.
30
To answer your question, it becomes our responsibility when those crossing the border are taken into U.S. custody.
2
Want to address this problem in a serious way? Put the US Surgeon-General in charge of detainee care. Police and prison organizations are ill suited to deliver health care; they prioritize security and don't go overboard in demanding adequate budgets for health care - this is not really in their mission.
31
@Copse who are you suggesting pay for this? healthcare workers have to be paid.
5
@ATLee Same people you expect to pay for The Wall. (i.e. not Mexico.)
Ask Congress for it. I’m sure the house will find a way to assist. Defund some military. Expand medical into a subscription like service. You pay so much in based on income and can choose where you go. End the for profit insurance coverage that only wants to cover people who don’t need healthy care.
How many of my own neighbors here lack basic medical care, are unable to even get in to see a doctor for essential medical care?
Yet, if one is an immigrant, it is expected that one is immediately entitled to food, shelter medical care?
Having worked for decades overseas in many countries - and done so through the laborious legal process involving lots of paperwork, background investigations and visa processing - what logical process has been leapt here in which anyone can show up at one's border and immediately be entitled to commodities and services that are deprived to millions who are already living in the country and are citizens?
35
And whose fault is that America’s don’t have affordable healthcare?
My house was painted by the husband of Ralph Lauren’s “Manager” of their sweater division. She flew often to Honduras, one of the drug capitals of the world; the factory protected by armed guards, as was all staff during their stay it was so dangerous.
America is THE largest consumer of cocaine and heroin and, apparently, a broker for cheap Latin American labor while enabling the drug cartels. Remember this as many of you seem to lose all sense of humanity while speaking of mostly women and children trying to flee horrific conditions that Americans helped to create.
71
@H.A. Hyde
Oh, right, now it's *our* fault that people are selling our children heroin and cocaine.
Sorry for existing.
5
When Mexico is offering these women, men and children from Central American countries asylum it then becomes evident that the motives for coming to the United States is more about economics than fear for their lives.
If your counter argument would be that Mexico isn’t as safe for them as the US, then wouldn’t you be agreeing to the rhetoric the media implied that President Trump spoke about during his campaign that murderers and rapists are illegally crossing the southern border from Mexico into the US?
2
Meanwhile, spending countless billions on border security (including at least the approved billion plus for another 55 miles of "wall"), a handful of voices in the wilderness persist in asking one seemingly pertinent question.
Why not put teeth in E-Verify? Imprison the owners of American businesses that break federal law and employ undocumented workers. Under-the-table work would dry up immediately, forcing a functioning guest worker program to be created, ending (the already diminishing) illegal immigration.
This would be a comparatively inexpensive course to take, protecting foreign workers from unscrupulous employers, and preventing honest employers from needing to break federal law.
15
@jrsherrard
When people are stepping across our border hoping for immediate apprehension and then free care — how would E-9 stop them?
And, how will an enhanced E-9 process stop those bringing drugs ot trafficking in humans?
3
@Dr. John Really? I, and many others, have provided an obvious and inexpensive solution to undocumented workers - at least 11 million of whom are working for US employers who are flagrantly breaking federal law - and you complain about free medical care and criminal activity?
There are some simple solutions which, evidently, we will never attempt, in favor of costly and divisive solutions. This is one of them.
(In partial answer to your question about drug trafficking, and for another astonishingly effective solution, check out Portugal)
It appears the concerns of working and tax-paying Americans are playing second fiddle.
35
The U.S. has crossed the line between civilized and barbaric states. In treatment of migrants especially, but also in the treatment given to its own needy citizens. The world looks on us with increasing distrust and alarm, as decades of relatively humanitarian policies are shredded by an Administration that knows but doesn't care.
5
@D. Gallagher The question is, who's first priority citizens or illegal migrants?? As a citizen with veterans in my family I can assure you that there's a huge financial and medical need for citizens and if you fought for this country that should go without saying.
2
My child’s daily prescription went from $15/month last year to over $200 this year due to insurance benefits changes. We don’t know what we are going to do. And our insurance premiums went up as our benefits went down, and we receive no subsidies. Our taxes are high. It’s not that Americans have no compassion. Trump is a horrifying monster and I don’t think his presidency will last through the year. But I don’t see why we have to be on the line for healthcare for foreigners who illegally cross our borders when so, so many Americans are in devastating financial situations due to our terrible for-profit healthcare system. You want to spend my tax dollars on free healthcare for anyone illegally crossing our border, but I’m financially devastated by outrageous prescription prices just to help my child? Both would be great, but can we prioritize Americans in crisis first?
37
In all of this, where is the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner on Refugees)- this is the organization set up to help. Why is there no refugee camp run by the UN in Central America? I don't understand it.
9
How we treat the most vulnerable is an excellent measure of our progress as a nation.
6
Everywhere on earth? That's rather a tall order. I think our first moral obligation is to treat the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens with decency. It's clear that permitting massive illegal immigration is an assault on our own most vulnerable because immigration is a zero-sum game: there are winners and losers. The big winner is the unscrupulous employer of illegal labor who makes a large profit with a captive labor force. The second winner are illegal migrants who want to enter the US; while they are unlikely to live well they will do better than where they came from. But the losers are our own most vulnerable: the working poor and working class, the elderly who can't afford to retire, the young who can't enter the workforce, and African-American males 20-40. Research conducted by the National Science Foundation finds that competition with illegal labor is responsible for 44% of the decline in wages for Americans at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. Our ethical responsibility ought to place those nearest to us first. This is not to say we should treat "others" without kindness. But we ought to place the needs of our own poor FIRST.
6
Almost certainly deliberate on part of Trump administration, and sooner or later the country may see what “wink and nod” instructions the Border Patrol received as another effort to forestall migrants from legally seeking asylum.
2
false info being reported. When an illegal crosses and they are ill they are admitted to the hospital. Agents are then told to do hospital watch. I know this as fact.
4
As heartbreaking as this story is what do you expect from a country that has 44 million of it own citizens uninsured.
22
@Steve Isn't that the number from pre-ACA? Hasn't that changed?
@Margo
It is the current number according to the government statistics as best I can see and the number is unfortunately slowly rising after the decline brought on by the ACA. This from Individual # 1 who promised us great, cheap universal coverage.
1
The articles published in the last 10 days are not new issues at the border. These would have helped inform the national conversation in January about trade-offs at the border.
The instinct to resist Trump solutions is almost always the correct, but he did correctly identify a moral hazard. Our asylum detention policy is asymmetric towards families, and the reality is a perverse incentive to traffick women and children.
The Democrats need to ignore Trump’s hyperbole and lead on this issue instead of ignoring the realities. For whatever reason they will fight against Trump much harder than they will fight for their own ideas.
10
@Inga Democrats and Republicans are all over the map on many different aspects of the immigration process but fixing the asylum detention policy seems to be a place where they share common ground.
What is with these comments?? These are people who are experiencing suffering. And many people seek asylum in the US because where they came from is dangerous as a result of the US's foreign policy. And Americans are suffering too, especially poor people with limited resources. But it isn't us versus them. You can care about the wellbsing of multiple people at the same time... oh, and a wall wouldn't stop this by the way.
5
@Connor It would be nice to care for anyone in our country who needs healthcare. That’s not a realistic prospect anytime soon, though. Also, it’s tone deaf to ask Americans to demand healthcare for foreigners who illegally enter our country when many Americans themselves are suffering from a lack of access to healthcare. There aren’t unlimited resources to provide healthcare for foreigners.
6
@Connor
They are experiencing this particular suffering indorectly because of choices they alone made. Were the Holocaust occurring in Mexico, say as a result of hatred of the indigenous, few people would object to taking in those who proved a direct, imminent threat to them. Where the cause is economic dislocation in their own countries, and a potentially unlimited number illegally seeking entry, a reasonable line must be drawn.
Trump has that reasonable line thing down perfectly. Legal immigration--fine. Asylum claims--fine, but don't expect to be admitted pending determination of the precise reasons for which you seek admission. Don't mass at the border with women and children foremost, seeking an end run around our laws and photo ops of tear gas.
More: if ICE agents rape poor women, prosecute them *fully*. But what happens on the "other side" is not for us to control or bear responsibility. In the macro side, it might be a legitimate ail of government to government pressure (at the perpetual risk that Trump will be declared a bully. Funny, I think he just considers the source and then prepares for his meeting on farm subsidies)
3
@Wine Country Dude
The Parable of The Good Samaritan quotation on which you remarked was posted so that Jesus could talk directly to you, good friend (Quit looking behind you. There's nobody there. He's talking to you). Go back and take another good, long look at it. I don't believe the Parable comes with legalistic fine print. Indeed, I think that he was talking to a lawyer for that very reason. And recall that a Samaritan was a reviled person from a foreign land in the times of Jesus. Finally, notice that the Samaritan didn't ask who was going to pay for the man's treatment. He clearly informed the Inn Keeper to put all of the expenses on his tab.
1
The healthcare crisis for uninsured Americans is at the fore of the political debate and the discussion of the taxpayer money being used for a Medicare-for-All is the topic de jour.
Does this plan include everyone in Mexico, Central and South America, too?
24
This neglect of human need, vulnerability, and illness has got to end. The migrants are fleeing for their very lives, only to face rape, incarceration for long periods of time, family separation, untreated illness (whatever the source or cause), and more.
We have been taught that "the measure we give will be the measure we get." Of that, I'm sure. We also know know that we should "welcome the stranger," for some who have done so have welcoming angels into their midst.
1
Thank you for this important reporting on the border. These are human beings, men, women children who are fleeing poverty and persecution. To place a mother and child in a cold cell with no medical attention is sickening. How do we support those structures which allow people to remain at home and have a decent life? What happened to our souls that we condone these conditions as so many of these letter writers seem to do?
2
@Louise S. I'm curious. When my babies were sick and I took them to the doctor I would be sent home with them all on my own and that was considered ok. Did you want that mother and baby to have their own nursing staff after seeing the doctor?
2
I wish people would stop saying, "We're better than this." A country that allows thousands of its citizens to suffer and die every year for lack of affordable healthcare, and sits back and watches thousands of others lose everything in order to pay for healthcare, we are not "better than this."
If we had the humanity that so many Americans think we have they would understand the concept of being responsible for the care and well-being of people who are detained by our government.
There's an old saying among the religious that "faith without action is dead." Claiming humanity without action is also dead.
7
This is one of the articles that will be characterized by the right as "fake news."
Unfortunately, the right may be partially right.
Yes, detainees do have medical problems and those problems may be worse because the detainees have limited access to medical care.
But poor Americans also have limited access to medical care, even those who have insurance.
Many cannot afford to go to the doctor for routine cancer screenings. So they find out about their cancer when it is too late to treat.
We need a discussion of the full range of issues, including population growth and its impact on poverty in Guatemala,El Salvador, Honduran, Nicaragua and Mexico.
Guatemala's population has increased from 4 million in 1960 to almost 17 million now. It is innumerate to suggest that the poverty and gangs in Guatemala can be "solved" by wave after wave of migrant caravans.
NY Times essays often hold up Republican politicians for ridicule for denying global warming. NY Times readers seem to enjoy holding Republican politicians in contempt.
But how much worse is it to deny the impact of population growth, which is the primary cause of global warming?
The NY Times writers exhibit a profound lack of knowledge of what is happening in Africa, in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, in parts of Latin America.
Visit Delhi or Nairobi or Sao Paulo or Cairo. You will see the undeniable scourge of population growth with your own eyes. Yow will realize that Democratic policy is bankrupt.
31
@Jake Wagner Yes, overpopulation, with under-education and consequent under-employment is becoming a global problem. There are concerns about another "Arab spring" and for us, for now, these caravans from Central America are, largely, unarmed and rekatively peaceful - but for how long?
3
How about we work on universal health care for American citizens before we get worked up about health care for migrants, legal or illegal?
19
My elderly American patients can't even afford their medications or copays and we are now supposed to build hospitals along the border and take on patients with congenital defects like hydrocephalus? As a physician in nycI treat many patients from the Dominican Republic who come specifically for free care of their HIV. Meanwhile regular Americans can't even go to the doctor their deductibles are so high.
37
Then why don’t we help Americans? What’s stopping us? The word socialism maybe?
2
So now we should just let these people into the country, provide them free medical care that they will never pay for, release them into the country and/or provide them free social services? No thanks. Build the wall.
28
We cannot save the world, but we can provide better support for these migrants that flee their homes because of cartels, gangs and corruption. American clients buying illicit drugs are financing this whole problem, so it seems only reasonable that we gind ways to assist its victims.
1
I love the headline, "Border Patrol Facilities Put Detainees With Medical Conditions at Risk."
No mention that the illegal crossers put themselves at risk in the first place by trying to enter the country illegally.
33
This series of articles in the Times makes it difficult to understand how any decent person could oppose a cutoff illegal immigration. The poor from Latin America are desperate for opportunity and a decent wage. They are willing to pay thousands of dollars for transport by coyotes, with its accompanying rape and robbery, and to endanger a child to gain entry. The cost of flying a person to the U.S. to whom we wish to give entry would be only a few hundred dollars. This is far less than total government and medical care expenditures of approximately $25,000 a year per resident, which limits the number of extremely poor that we can admit. Is it morally acceptable to use the endangerment of children, rape, and robbery to enforce a limit? In addition, any decent person would have concerns about the effects of low-wage immigration on the wages and working conditions of the most vulnerable American workers? Low-wage immigrants have access to government services and medical care. Since the costs are paid by Americans in general, illegal immigration acts as a subsidy to employers willing to undercut American workers.
14
I can’t help but wonder what will happen in 10 or so years when some of these children are adults. Their fear turned to anger. Their possible desire for retribution. It seems as if we are so concerned with the now, that we forget there are always long term consequences. Who will we blame then?
2
Wouldn’t it be less expensive — and, not incidentally, more humane — for our nation seriously to address the problems that have been driving Central Americans to leave their countries and try to enter the US?
I know this will seem näive to many people.
8
Wall builders out in force here, walls will only mean more border crossers with broken limbs. A Wall or a Space Force will not solve the growing world problem of people fleeing desperation. Partisan Republican gambits of banning of US funds for UN family planning and contraceptive services worldwide compounds the numbers of people in distress. Many of these families would stay home if a family member could legally come to the US, work at, say a Trump property, and send money back home. Central American governments and economies need to be improved by regional, US or UN oversight and aid, not sanctioned as Trump threatens. Climate change will make these current refugee movements seem trifling.
2
This is utterly disgraceful, no matter where you stand on immigration. It amounts to a violation of International law. And even if I'm wrong about it violating the letter, there can be no doubt it violates the spirit. Let's not sugarcoat it. This is being done in our name.
1
So sad to read how people are commenting on these humans trying to reach America as “foreign invaders, scammers...” I’m sure some migrants are not escaping real threats, either environmental, social or political but geez... we as a nation have directly contributed to some of these horrific situations. No compassion, no heart.
2
Like every article written in "The Times" about illegal immigration, this one is written with point-of-view located within the illegal immigrants, and is published to engender sympathy with those seeking to enter the US illegally. But facts have a way of breaking through the ideological framework, and it would be difficult to imagine a piece that provides a better case for building a daunting physical barrier to entry into the US. The sick and injured described here are victims of their own bad choices. In some cases they dragged small children across deserts where dehydration is a major cause of death. That's not the fault of the Border Patrol: it's because of the irresponsibility of parents or cayotes. People make the trek because they know they have a relatively good chance of breaching our pathetic barrier. The statistics on apprehensions, while high and rising once again, hide the fact that the Border Patrol claims that it likely captures and detains only ONE THIRD of those who try to enter the US. Where is "The Times" concern for communicable diseases carried by illegal aliens affecting Americans? Sympathy here is skewed because of the politicization of the subject. Since the "Times" favors massive illegal immigration it blames US immigration enforcement agencies for every evil. How about placing moral agency where it lies: in those people prepared to violate US law, risking the health and life of their own children, to enter the US illegally?
24
As a life long reader of the NYT I do think it is time you put your articles re: immigration on the editorial pages rather than news pages. Your framing of the issue is disingenuous and disappointing--it is repeatedly cast as almost a total American failure rather than a shared responsibility. As an American living in Europe you might shed a little more compassion on the millions already living in huge (often horrific) camps waiting asylum/resettlement from famine/war/terrorism. Very disappointed in your reporting of this and a failure to triage the crises.
17
Reports of Border Patrol conduct shames all citizens of the USA who pacify read about the crimes against humanity against people seeking asylum - separating children from their families, ignoring serious illness and injury, rape, brutality - without outraged indignation.
This is NOT what taxpayers like me expect from our government.
Disgusted.
3
Imagine, “Doctors Without Boders” is needed in the US, and not just at the border. All over this country. Incredible. There are a lot of reasons for this need. It’s not just the fault of one man, clearly a very defective man. Can “Trump-Camps,” the sprawling refugee, tent-cities in the US be far behind?
3
This is vile and in-American.
Where is mention of Kirstjen Nielsen’s role? Isn’t oversight of Homeland Security and treatment of migrants in custody under her purview? In a perfect world, she should be tried in a world court for crimes against humanity, but alas, no such justice awaits her.
2
If we had enough money to fund our needs at the border maybe we could do a better job with more officers and a wall that funnel people to enter at the checkpoints where we have the facilities. Bussing sick people for hours is not helpful and exposes other migrants and our officers to illnesses.
2
When rising oceans and climate chaos drives millions of Americans from their cities and low-lying valleys, how will we be treated by our own countrymen who live with this authoritarian, inhumane mindset?
2
So many complaints that Americans don't have decent health care so illegal immigrants don't deserve any. This comparison is ludicrous. They are simply not the same thing.
Many Americans have lousy healthcare because corporations run healthcare as a profit-making enterprise. In addition, any attempt to improve healthcare for average Americans faces roadblocks by Republicans. BUT, anyone who is ill can go to an ER where they must receive care. (At least we have that.) However, the bills may bankrupt you.
Immigrants crossing the border are people too, so they also deserve humane treatment. If a woman comes into the US with a fractured arm and pelvis, it is cruelty to dump her on a concrete floor and leave her there untreated. Would you want to have that happen to your dog, to someone in your family, or to YOU?
If America is so great, why do they treat people that aren't rich, including their own citizens like they have no value unless they have $$$?
4
Please compare the cost to taxpayers of Donald Trump's golf weekends to Mar-a-Lago to what would be the cost of providing timely, reasonable medical care for desperate people seeking asylum in our nation. People who are often ill, have been raped, are traumatized - and then locked in cages by the USCBP at America's border.
Let us think of the moral cost to our nation of these choices. Are we now a nation that prefers to pay for golf junkets for Trump vs. humane treatment of asylum seekers?
4
Wait a minute ... 2,200 border crossings a day! Good grief, maybe there is indeed a national emergency at the border. Why has the media tended to downplay this?
15
You do realize we have over 300,000 non citizens flying in and out if the US daily right?
2000 people? My goodness! This is crazy! How will we ever survive? Hide the women and children!
@Mathias ... presumably those airline passengers have visas.
1
As a country, we are obligated to provide medical attention to our citizens and for immigrants who are in our country legally. For those who are scaling our walls, swimming across the waters - no, we are not obligated to provide medical care.
I realize many immigrants are fleeing violent countries, but we cannot simply throw open the gates to all who wish to enter the US. To do so, upends our economy and stretches whatever free medical care is available, to the point that our own people have none.
Our local TV station conducted an interview with a gentleman from El Salvador who is here on a "temporary visa". He's been here 20 years and still could speak no English. Yet he claimed the US is his country and he should not be deported.
To safeguard the immigrants from abuse at our borders, maybe we should close our borders, allowing only individuals who work at, or provide goods to US businesses to cross the border.
82
@Valerie
Please don't use lies to paint those who want the U.S. immigration policy to be more humane. I have never heard even from wild lefty progressives that they want "open borders", this is a blatant lie promulgated by FOX news to scare the American electorate. Immigrants to not "upend our economy", they contribute to our economy, and pay taxes for benefits that only American citizens will receive. And as for "stretches whatever free medical care is available", last time I checked we still live in a free country where medical health professionals are able to decide when and where to give their services freely. If we don't have a single payer healthcare system like every other industrialized countries, blame your republican representatives, not some poor migrant trying to flee violence and poverty in their home country. This great country was built by poor migrants seeking a better life.
I'm not even sure how to respond to your "story from local TV station", except that there is no national language in the United States of America.
And to "safeguard the immigrants from abuse at our borders I suggest we stop abusing them and treat them with some humanity. Most immigrants are coming here to work and provide labor to many US businesses.
We can have an honest discussion about about reforming our immigration laws, but lets do it based on facts, not racist fearmongering from FOX News.
6
@Valerie You speak so much of what we cannot do, so what do you propose we should do other than locking ourselves indoors?
2
@Valerie Do you realize that people seeking asylum are not committing any crime? They are doing what is required under US and international law.
5
This will go down in history as one (and I say one of many) of the country's most shameful policies.
4
There is a real chance to further clean up the swamp in 2020. New President, new Senate. Vote "blue"!
2
2,200 migrants a day crossing our borders is a crisis and an emergency.
12
Wrong - headline should read: "Immigrants with medical conditions put themselves at risk when attempting to gain illegal entry into the USA".
12
Wrong! The headline should be. “Most generous nation in the world proves callous soullessness! Liberty for all is dead!”
The Times needs to send some reporters to the middle of Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and any other major cities where the poor exist. Tell us you are happy with the care they are receiving before engaging in this politically charged article. We are not a heartless people so let’s help our own first. All those looking to help at border start at home first please.
18
@Dante
Well said. Brilliant !
3
We try to help but last I checked there is no support for health and welfare programs. Don’t play the victim when yuh support the same people that cause the suffering.
It’s disgusting. There is no respect for human life. You’re going to hear a lot about poor Americans Republicans say we should help instead yet in the next sentence scream socialism if you try to help them. And then they complain about the rich liberals in blue states that don’t understand their suffering they wish to imposed on all of us.
Even worse people who support this nonsense likely want more suffering forced on immigrants because they don’t want their kind here.
And in all police actions where humans are degraded rape and physical abuse is common.
I don’t believe there can be a future for our country without compassion.
3
Why does The NY Times keep referring to these people as “migrants”? They are illegal aliens who, as their first act on American soil, is to break the law. America owes them nothing.
13
So this is who we have become, inhuman monsters. What ever happened to “...Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses...”?
Everyone (or most everyone) that identifies as “White” seems to think they have some sort of birthright entitlement to be here today. I have a different point of view, that of Native Americans.
How about a policy the repatriates everyone in the United States, who cannot demonstratively prove Native American ancestry to their country of origin. Because if you cannot do this simple demonstration, you are all alien immigrants.
At that point, those of us left here would greatly appreciate it if you would leave.
2
Why are you even reporting on this? There is no crisis and there are no problems at the border. The only person that seems interested in fixing the problem is the President...
7
Because it’s important.
I don’t believe for s second that Trump cares about the border. He would hire illegals right now if it benefited him. The only reason he is doing anything is because it gives him political power to do all the other things he wants that benefit him and the cronies and cult groups around him.
We have become to stupid to survive as a country, we allow the world to scam our asylum system and unbelievably stupid immigration laws at a cost of over 100 billion on a yearly basis, but we block the President from building a wall and using other means to stop this invasion. I hope millions from around the world take advantage of this stupidity and show up at our borders, then what ?
7
These phony asylum seekers should be made to wait for their full asylum hearing in Mexico and let Mexico take care of their medical problems.
15
WRONG : Our Border defenders do not place these migrants at risk, their behavior places them at risk. Imagine a migrant, illegal whatever title you use dropping you as a toddler over a high fence to maybe not get hurt. Imagine placing your family in harms way.
Imagine taking your children into an unknown desert anf hoping they survive .
The parents, the coyotes the sex smugglers put them at risk. Border patrol more often than not saves them. So get it right NYTimes and stop trying to push these illegals down our throats. They are breaking our laws and that is not correct.
16
The conditions in the migrant detention centers are, as the NYT's articles have revealed, deplorable. They lack sufficient heat, adequate food and, as noted herein, some basic medical care. As far as the issue of the cost of American taxpayer dollars, far far more is wasted on trump's golf trips and rallies. I am reading the comments and I find most of them disturbing with their focus on immigrants doing this to themselves and the Times doesn't care about Americans needing medical care. Maybe the focus of the articles and of the comments ought to be on why the migrants are fleeing and our history of interference with these countries that has contributed to destabilization. Furthermore, the Times has published numerous articles on the lack of adequate medical care for lower income Americans and the current administration's failure to address this problem. No one on American soil should be denied medical care.
60
@Donna
Maybe the Dems in the House should write ICE a blank check to build the facilities to hold these folks. Sadly they wont even do that much.
4
@James
And the GOP members of the House had two years of power during this administration which they frittered away. Dems were elected in large numbers to the House and took their places exactly two months and four days ago. To coin a phrase, "Give me a break!"
2
@James Your response is called "displacement": transferring blame from those who've permitted several years of antihuman policies to those who've just come into power.
ICE will deserve a check -- any check at all -- once its policies regarding asylum seekers encompass more than mere surveillance and deportation. Apparently, ICE can't think creatively.
1
Talk to Trump about it. Migrants should not be allowed to get sick.
5
we could send them to Canada....
3
In a number of respects, mankind exhibits tendencies that exist across the animal world.
Birds fly south to seek better conditions. Humans move north for the same reason. Just as you're not going to stop the birds, given the worsening living conditions in Honduras, you're not going to stop the humans.
8
@Mike Edwards
And that is exactly why we need a big beautiful wall.
6
@Mike Edwards, in the wild herds of migrating animals are usually followed closely behind by predators that take care of the weak and dying, not ambulances as some here would expect.
4
Imagine the USA - the condition of your State and city, the effectiveness of your schools, the availability of your doctors, the impact on the welfare of our own disadvantaged and poor Americans, and yes even more taxes on you and less privileged working Americans— if we continue to entice and accept economic hardship as a reason for anyone to step across our borders hoping for immediate apprehension and then expecting free care.
68
@Dr. John except that is a false choice. By our actions we have caused the instability that these people are fleeing. Lets stop fighting a stupid "drug war", stop supporting "anti communist" fascist dictators, stop supporting US companies that mistreat workers and the flow will slow to a trickle.
2
Well said!
1
Perhaps we should take a page from Mexico and just enable, if not assist, the Central Americans in going to Canada.
34
Illegal immigration can be stopped by prosecuting those that illegally employ undocumented immigrants. If Trump and others that illegally gave jobs to an estimated 8 million undocumented immigrants that are employed illegally they would have never came to the US. We do not need a wall, ineffective and waste of taxpayer money. Since 2000, unauthorized immigration from Asia has grown at rates much faster than from Mexico and Central America. A wall does not address this growing Asian immigration problem.
25
@Stan I don't see Americans taking these jobs. Do you pick fruit, work in the fields, or work in home health? Americans won't do these jobs when they can get disability and welfare.
@jz
I hate this excuse. I did pick fruit. I know many people that have been maids. Work with elderly. The NYT recently profiled a book about a U.S. born woman who needed a maid job to make ends meet with a young child.
The truth is the low pay in these fields and the abuse and lack of oversight drive U.S. citizens away - and that is all caused by a "race to the bottom" that competition illegal labor provides. Cesar Chavez didn't like illegal immigration either for that very reason.
Plus the whole "I'm showing pity by having them do the worst of the worst" tack is in itself just misguided.
6
And what political party has supported farmers and illegal immigration?
If it is that bad perhaps they should be reminded of the care levels back in their native country, or in the middle of a desert.
20
There's an easy answer.
Get in line like everyone else. What if everyone in South America did the same thing?
28
@Glen S
When wait times for consideration for legal immigration can be a decade and often longer, effectively there is no line.
US immigration process and policy has been a hot mess for at least the last fifty years, a long trail of lost paperwork and fumbling incompetent bureaucrats that no administration has bothered to address.
Until our own country’s failure to clean house in agencies responsible for immigrants, until we actually deal with the causes on our side that create the abominable situation in this article, we own these atrocities, we are responsible.
Blaming people who see no other option than to flee their own country with only what they can carry on their backs is weak and inhuman.
1
"Hefting bags and babies, they climbed a muddy dirt path that cut through spiny brushlands, walking toward the agents, who awaited them at a gap in the border wall."
The border wall is not the end-all panacea that the president's faithful audience on Fox are led to believe.
5
Can you imagine if we had Bernie style universal healthcare? Theyd be coming by the millions
60
Once Cubans get here ( past the wet/dry/Dusty foot) and the Cuban Adjust Act they get free healthcare among other federal benefits out own citizens don't receive yet I don't see an outrage from the right.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/us-cuba-welfare-benefits/
11
@RD And citizens would not be going bankrupt due to accessing needed health care.
11
@justme Healthcare is not a right. The definition of Economics is "The division of scarce resources given unlimited wants".
Strangely enough, when something is free or a right, there also magically appears unlimited need. Benefits according to need us called socialism. In practice, your ideal of spending other peoples money is essentially advocating is to spread the bankruptcy to everyone. It is not an improvement. Not by a long shot.
Forgotten and ignored is the role the US played in Central America for decades supporting dictators, supporting torture, and the ever present unending stupidity of the drug war. We have destabilized and destroyed any vestige of democracy in these countries. As for the drug war,it is an ugly joke that ignores the fact that Americans want drugs and only makes the profit in them obscenely greater.
Reality is the key to resolving the problems we did so much to magnify.
21
Decades is enough time to fix their own problems
20
They've had decades of available birth control, too.
4
@NYC Dweller
decades is enough for the US to stop causing them problems . And decades is more than enough for us to face our drug problems squarely and stop causing havoc around the world. By the way, how long has this country been causing mayhem in the Middle East as well? Your "decades" pronouncement is pretty self-serving and fails to recognize the ugliness and consequences of American Actions.
11
I am disgusted that illegals think they can jump the line before legal citizens, Veterans and demand what we can't get and expect to get it. They should all be charged with child abuse for dragging kids all those miles, ill or well, then expecting to have this country served up to them on a platter just for appearing at the border. They can go back where they came from with that kind of attitude.
75
@themoi Just out of curiosity, are you 100% Native American?
If not, take a seat.
6
@themoi this is such an insular view on this issue. Do you think immigrants like that choose to flee their homes, community, language, their country? Again, they are FLEEING a place and they are HUMAN BEINGS, before a citizen of any land. Nobody leaves everything they have and everything they know, risk their lives and the lives of their children if they had minimum living conditions where they come from. I'll suggest the following exercise, it's great to have a broader PERSPECTIVE: put yourself in that situation and ask yourself, if you had to choose to die where you're at or to try to flee to live, which one would you choose?
10
You can’t enroll your kid in school without proof of health vaccinations in many states. How about you can’t apply for asylum without proof of vaccinations. If you can borrow thousands to be smuggled you can borrow for vaccinations as well.
44
@Ginger
Why bother paying for medical care if the US will give it to you for free?
31
During border surges of the Obama administration, vaccines were given to any child who could not prove they were up to date. I suspect that is still occurring.
4
Why are migrants referred to as migrants rather than illegal migrants?
69
@Zoe Because it’s not politically correct. Illegal is illegal?
Guess not.
22
Because calling them illegals is not politically correct
23
Because they’re not illegal when they are in U.S. custody. Being held is custody at the border is legal. Good grief
7
“The new arrivals had been in federal custody for up to 72 hours, but most had received no real medical attention — “
There are millions of tax paying Americans with “medical conditions” who have received no medical attention, either. Welcome to America!
110
At what point will illegal migration and asylum seekers completely cripple our social safety net ?
Political correctness hides the truth the most of the influx across our southern border are (and will be) totally dependent upon upon it. They are defacto “wards of the state”.
Similarly, at what point will their numbers saturate the low end of the job market and render them unemployable ?
Their demographics are damning. The majority are : illiterate ( in their own language and ours ) uneducated, and unskilled. Those lucky enough to find work are trapped at the bottom of the wage scale.
None “tax taxes” needed to support the services they require. These factors also delay and suppress the healthy assimilation seen in prior immigrants.
We need to more effectively throttle the influx before the overload triggers social unrest among them and our own citizens....
67
My immigrant ancestors from Northern & Eastern Europe came during the late 1800s. They were uneducated, illiterate, and unskilled ... and most of them remained so far into this 21st century. But most of them will not admit that it was easy to get here then. And they want to shut the doors on the current immigrants, not matter what. It kinda makes me sick because we all still CLAIM to be Catholic-Christian church goers. I see a real disconnect!
4
Illiterate, uneducated, and unskilled described tens of millions of the immigrants who came through Ellis Island and other ports of entry during the early twentieth century. They, their children, and their grandchildren became the dynamic, educated, skilled, and hardworking core of the economic boom that built the US into a world economic power and the manpower that made it a military power.
The shortsightedness of the commenters is breathtaking. The US needs an influx of young people or we will end up like Japan, in a demographic death spiral where the old people outnumber the young. The source of those young people is and always has been immigration.
1
Comparisons to prior waves immigration are invalid. Historic immigrants benefited from the huge demand for unskilled labor. They were part of Western expansion and industrialization. They clearly helped build this nation.
Today, there is no corresponding need for unskilled labor.....worse, many semi-skilled jobs are steadily being displaced by industrial automation.
9
I don’t get it. There is no emergency at the border but we have 2000 people crossing a day. That is 3/4 million a year. And this is only the ones we know about. But just 3/4 million is the Milwaukee Metro area. It is allot of people.
I can’t afford to see a doctor and I lived here my whole life. The first 6500 is an out of pocket expense. And if my kids get hurt the hospital will grab them and give me a huge bill to pay. Yet people cross the border and expect medical treatment for free? And if we do expand the treatment centers for illegals we will just give illegals another reason to cross. Claim asylum, get that surgery for free, and go back to Mexico.
73
This paragraph "On a typical afternoon in early February, Border Patrol radios in South Texas crackled with reports of “bodies,” people whose unauthorized crossing of the border had been detected by ground motion sensors and cameras on poles and tethered radar blimps" tells us all we need to know. People are bodies. We are so much better than this; as a country we condemn other countries for their lack of human rights (well at least we used to).
Legal or not legal, this in inhumane. And yet the people keep coming. Despite the sexual violence and the inhumane treatment, they keep coming. Think about what they are leaving that makes them willing to go through all this. We should be ashamed.
93
@Marylouise I’m not ashamed. The countries they have born children in should be ashamed.
31
@Marylouise
We should be ashamed? For what? For not having children until we can provide support for them? AOC is telling Americans not to have children but the 3rd world can have all they want and its our responsibility to care for them? And when they arrive bedraggled we should be ashamed? Just speechless.
48
@Marylouise
Marylouise - they paid all the money they (and their families had) to come here. What they are leaving behind is probably better - much better than the quagmire they are walking into. Their idea of America is what they see on local tv or what a migration hustler has told them. The stars in their eyes blind them to the reality of what life will probably be for the overwhelming majority.
23
Who would risk swimming in shark-infested waters with a baby? Someone on a sinking ship, trying to escape certain death. Can anyone blame them? That’s basically what these people face. People from around the world have been drawn to America because it was a symbol peace, prosperity, safety and freedom but I guess that’s less true every day. What’s truly sad is how many people are just fine with that.
10
yes. then let them apply legally and go through the immigration process. no crossing borders in the middle of the night
19
They only cross the Rio Grande River. No sharks there.
11
There are no sharks in the Rio Grande - unless you are referring to the despicable people who prey on the immigrants. Although they are usually called coyotes.
10
The article as written strongly implies the fault for their ills lies with the U.S. government.That makes no sense. They are injured and ill when they arrive, as a result of the choices they made long before appearing at the border. Who's fault is it again?
69
@Kathy B
It's the fault of gangs who kill and rape thousands of Hondurans and Salvadorans every year, who have infiltrated police forces, who run these countries like cartels. If you own a business and don't, or can't, pay the gang, your family gets killed. Most migrants are fleeing violence – don't blame them, blame what made them flee in the first place.
4
People with these medical conditions put THEMSELVES at risk. The Border Patrol Facilities are not, and should not be medical facilities. The Border Patrol did not invite these folks to come, nor did they hold out the promise of medical care. To say these facilities put these people at risk is asinine.
145
@Joe People who are ill put us all at risk. Caring for them, we care for ourselves. Wait a couple years until the changes wrought by climate change -- like vast numbers of disease-carrying vermin, livestock, and insects making their way to your beautiful, warming Colorado -- and then complain about sick people. Like those living next door.
Reread Poe's "The Masque of the Red Death" for further instructions.
@Joe
These people are at risk if they stay in their countries; that is why they are coming here. They are not stupid; they know it is a dangerous journey and that they are risking their safety, the safety of their children, maybe their very lives. Clearly what they are fleeing from is so abysmal that they are weighing the risk and believe that coming here is the better option. Yes, they're not "invited" but that doesn't mean that we don't have a moral obligation to provide care to them. This does not imply that we are not obligated to provide care to American citizens, either. There seems to be this inane "logic" that because we don't help "our own," we shouldn't help these people, either.
3
I lived and payed taxes and medical insurance in the US for 30 years. I was laid off, opted not to take the $1200 COBRA and a month later sustained a massive leg injury from a trip and fall. The damage, 100K. I owned a house so I was not eligible for treatment and was told my the emergency crew not to go to the hospital. I got no assistance and lived with a smashed knee on Percocet, until I could arrange to sell my house. I paid a lot in taxes, but there was no relief for me. And there is no relief for millions of Americans who can't afford healthcare. NYT, why don't you profile some of the sick and dying American patients. I bet you more than two kids died of asthma in the Bronx in emergency rooms in the same period of time. I will note that the 18 year old mother, Ms. Medina looks pretty healthy, has decent clothes and a nice manicure, her baby sucking a bottle looks in very good shape as well. Babies get fevers and diarrhea all the time. Here's some advice as to how to avoid pelvic injuries, stop climbing 25 foot fences. "In one case around five years ago..." this is the best the author could come up with? These biased articles just infuriate me. Numbers please, how much is this costing. In my case, I had to sell my house, my leg which was severely broken, was not a pre-existing condition under Obamacare. Legal immigration fine, illegal no. I admire the doctor volunteers, go into some poor American communities and help.
97
Enough just enough!!! With this garbage about
* AiIing migrants suffer at the border
* most had received no real medical attention
* Customs and Border Protection facilities along the border lack (the ability to) thoroughly assess health needs or provide more than basic emergency care
* Some require medications for chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes & high blood pressure. Yet Border Patrol facilities until now have failed to provide comprehensive health screenings
* In recent months, large groups of children & families have crossed into the United States in remote desert areas lacking in medical infrastructure.
I could barely skim the article it made me so angry - angry at the NEW YORK TIME with its obsession
No one invited these people.
They ignored the law (8 USC 1325) which says they MUST go to a border entry to cross legally (no matter why they want to come in)
Tough if there are no medical facilities within 100 miles of the border or an hour of the Border Station.
The NYT CAN BUILD 'em & PAY to RUN them. I am NOT
They waltz over wanting free free & FREE MEDICAL CARE
We -median income household - can NOT afford $3000 more of dental - crown, fillings, bridge. I do NOT get health screens (colonoscopy etc) because I can not afford the copay for treatment if anything is found
ANd all the NYT can do is wail "oh the ILLEGALS sneaking over the border need more FREE medical care"
If the election were to day, I would vote for Trump BECAUSE OF THE NYT
101
Don’t worry! The Russians have got your back and support your choice!
The NY times made me angry and a little disappointed. Millions of Americans struggle with the health care center and does the NY Times write about that- no because their advertising revenue might suffer. Insurance companies deny life saving medical care all the time but of course NY times will not cover that but instead cover a migrant made story!
59
@And
Go to the search bar at the top of the NYT page and type in insurance, or us health insurance, or us medical crisis, or any variate of that and you will find several dozen articles discussing those very topics from the NYT that were front page news on other days.
Just because you didn't read them, or they're not on the front page today, does not mean those topics are not being covered or discussed or investigated.
10
The Border Patrol is detaining about 2,300 migrants per day, or about 803,000 per year. The U.S. mortality rate is 849.3 deaths per 100,000 population. So one would expect about 6,795 of the 803,000 detainees to die this year, even if they were immediately released from custody.
At the current rate or detention, the border detainee population would grow larger than Los Angeles in five years and larger than New York City in just over 10 years. This, of course, counts only the illegal border crossers the Border Patrol catchers. The Department of Homeland Security estimates the Border Patrol catches about 52 percent of illegal border crossers.
More than half of the migrants are crossing over the border in the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas. This is where Trump wants to add 200 miles of new border fence that the Democrats say is not needed..
51
@William Case The Democratic party hates America.
1
We have about 350,000 foreigners entering our country every day. In one year that would be over 125 million people! That would be around one third of the US population!
Close the borders! They are invading!
1
"The deaths of two children in Border Patrol custody point to shortfalls..."
Since when did the plural of anecdote become data? When it serves a purpose?
38
Same as angel moms etc!
Earlier in the day, a little girl named Nancy had been brought into the clinic with a cough and shaking chills. She had been vomiting, she said, and her spine hurt. An assistant took her temperature. “She’s got 104, almost 105,” she said.
4
They are asylum-seekers, not migrants. Migrants would be applying for an immigration visa.
9
@Mannyv
And a huge majority are denied asylum.
Economic hardship is not a reason to request asylum.
35
@Mannyv
They want to be Americanos so badly - heres the reality of what America has to offer the poor.
4
@Dr. John, absolutely. They also walk into emergency rooms and get free treatment. The last time I went, I received a bill for $21,000. By the way, live your Music. Its FAT TUESDAY!
10
Thought there was no emergency at the border ?
76
Only the one Trump created.
"The deaths of two children in Border Patrol custody point to shortfalls in health care provided to migrants, who sometimes arrive with serious illness and injury"
What about the shortfalls in health care for United States citizens?
91
“How do you send people who are clearly hurting, clearly in pain and suffering... as if they’re just another number, as opposed to an actual human being?”
Easily!
When they are made into a THEM, and
WE are...
In an enabled WE-THEY culture
which enables violating,
by words and deeds,
created, targeted and
selected disempowered "the other(s)."
Easily!
When personal unaccountability amongst
elected and selected policymakers, at
all levels, local, regional and national is a
consensualized norm and value.
Easily!
When all too many are actively complicit in
the spread of complacency.
Easily!
When eyes neither look nor see;
explained as "willful blindness,"
which is but a description.
Of whatever accuracy and
relevance to reality.
Aided by willful ignorance as
facts, fictions and fantasies continue to be
mixed, brewed and served up by
agendaed individual and systemic stakeholders.
Easily planned and carried out!
When willful deafness distances ears'
evolutionary trajectories.
Of listening and hearing;
from human and societal bodies'
menschlich-functions.
And civility was stopped and
turned back at a virtual border.
And mutual respect was raped..
Ummenschlichkeit was "visaed!"
There. Look. Attend. See.
Here. Hear. Listen.
All over. Know. Understand.
DO something!
And Silence prevailed!
All so easily.
But not in this clinic.
3
So these people drag their children 1000s of miles across deserts to the US border because they know that having a child with them will allow them to be released. Then they have the audacity to complain about the medical treatment they receive! This is beyond infuriating. We have a broken healthcare system. Millions of American families do not have health insurance and illness can lead to bankruptcy. But our government is being criticized by illegal migrants and bleeding heart non profits about the free healthcare they receive? This is a crisis and a national emergency. That wall cannot be built fast enough.
116
@Altered Carbon, You are right. But even prisoners and POWs are entitled to health care. But the wall is a political stunt that is wasteful of money. Better to put it to improving the lives of these people in their home countries (and their failed governments). Almost all would prefer to stay in their Central American home countries if they could be assured of a decent life. But because of our terrible track record of interference in these countries, it is best to have the Organization of American States take charge of this, with our own support.
8
Their home countries are not our problem when we have Veterans with health care and mental issues, a massive homeless problem, a National Healthcare crisis, crumbling infrastructure, a serious issue with the person in The White House, and on, and on, and on......But you want to fix someone else's country. And no, it is not our fault. These are their children in these gangs.
16
@JerryV as a taxpayer, i must now pay to better the society of central american countties? that's where my tax dollars should go?
22
Words have lost all meaning. I just read an article detailing a crisis at our southern border, from a paper whose opinions frequently tell me there is no crisis at the southern border. Oh, not that type of crisis? A different type?
I'm also struck by the incredulous tone describing the conditions. These aren't check points for marathon runners. Somebody has to pay for things. How do you support facilities that no one pays to use?
76
“But a C.B.P. employee, he said, opened the back doors of the vehicle and ordered the patient sent back, because she did not have papers to enter the United States.”
This is disgusting. It is also ridiculous.
9
Almost every Democrat politician must do a quick 180-degree turn on border security or they are soon going to be on the outside looking in.
65
@Dr. John
In my opinion, the Dems want illegals to come here as they plan to give them amnesty and turning them into Dem voters.
31
And I believe republicans want them to come here as undocumented wall or no wall because it benefits the businesses that’ employ them and fund the GOP.
1
Interesting how the ILLEGALS have migrated from being simply illegals aliens to undocumented aliens to migrants. No matter what they are called they are still in violation of our laws. The U.S. cannot provide health care, jobs etc. for the rest of the world.
Secure the border and let the Illegals take hold of their countries and secure a better life in THEIR COUNTRIES.
57
@Cous
1) They are not violating the law when then turn themselves in at the border and request asylum.
2) Hard for them to build better lives in their countries when we up here enrich and arm the gangs that threaten their lives by buying their drugs and selling them AR-15s
6
No, they are not violating the law, they are abusing it. By overwhelming delicate asylum statutes, these “asylum seekers”, most of whom are undeserving of asylum, will destroy our country’s ability to provide asylum.
19
It's clear that most of the people commenting would just as soon that we simply dig mass graves and shoot all asylum seekers.
People don't leave their countries unless they are desperate, and what's ironic is that's how most of the commentators got here.
We are a long way from the country that was given Lady Liberty.
26
Thanks for not engaging in dramatic hyperbole.
22
@Joe
I wasn't kidding.
So Sheri and Caitlin are you saying that it's BP fault for not providing medical services during the (up to ) 72 hours in custody.
Maybe instead of law enforcement we should be sending doctors to treat those illegals.
8
But we the American people just stand by and in our ignorance, racism, hatred or whatever motivates us and allow this to happen day after day and month after month. We don't care because it is not happening to us or someone we love or care about it. Trump and the GOP have not only cost us our ability to act when we know something wrong is happening, but they have also destroyed our moral compass. Some of us may still know right from wrong, but many of us no longer care as long as we are safe, comfortable, healthy, and well fed.
17
I am shocked, shocked I tell you that there isn’t a level I trauma center in the middle of the West Texas Border with a fleet of EMS helicopters standing at alert to rescue every illegal alien who has trespassed into the United States.
Good people, another cause for emergency declaration is the introduction into the United States of diseases largely wiped out. Immigrants (legal) years ago were health screened as they processed through Ellis Island and rejected and/or quarantined if ill or apparently ill.
Yet some commenters Think Border agents are “criminal” because terribly sick people present themselves illegally in sometimes remote location; seriously, they need to sit down and stop arm-waving and let more thoughtful problem solvers take the lead.
59
“An average of 2,200 migrants a day are now crossing the nation’s 1,900-mile border with Mexico, many after grueling journeys that leave them injured, sick or badly dehydrated.”
Oh I thought the typical liberal response is that illegals just simply overstay their visas.
2,200 a day?!? That ridiculous. How much are we paying for medical care cost for these people not to mention processing costs??
We really need to solve this and the humanitarian crisis by deterring illegals from starting in the first place. Build a huge wall. Force them to seek asylum in Mexico. Make the detention centers super unpleasant. Deport them ASAP. Preclude job opportunities. End sanctuary cities.
52
@Jay Lincoln
"An average of 2,200 migrants a day."
Indeed - but a more than 50% increase over the rate in 2014. But, back then, we had a President who cared more about border security than about himself.
5
Currently there are 200 immigrants with mumps being cared for in Texas.
27
Charity begins at home & we need to focus on the needs of our legal residents before we begin to focus on solving world healthcare. I do feel sorry for the people of Central America and the lack of their governments caring for their citizens. However, what about the people of Bangladesh or the people of Cameroon. Where do we start?
48
The only way to stop this tragedy from happening is to fortify our border in such a way, that no one is encouraged to make the long, dangerous trip across Mexico. Only the certainty of apprehension, and denial of entry can act as a sure-fire deterrent to folks making these treacherous journeys.
A shout-out to all Liberals--who tend to see every single migrant as an asylum candidate: if these folks are fleeing persecution from their homeland, as opposed to engaging in economic migration, why don't they apply for asylum in Mexico--as soon as they arrive safely at Mexico's southern border?
The answer is obvious--their goal is to come to the U.S. for a better life--to work here--to take American jobs. And while we may offer our sympathy, fleeing economic hardship in Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala does not make one eligible for asylum.
There is an easy way to avoid the injuries suffered from this arduous trek: stay home. And tell me again--why is it our responsibility to treat these migrants--instead of Mexico's? After all, didn't they incur their injuries in Mexico?
89
Progressive pediatric clinician throwing my hat into the discussion. I work in Southern San Diego County. Most, if not all of the asylum seekers I meet seek a more stable, less grueling, economic way of life for themselves and their children. Political participation, the entitlements afforded through tax collection and commitment to community are not considered by families who make such a treacherous journey.
The injuries are incurred in Mexico. We have an obligation to medically treat people because they, like us, are the sons and daughters of a loving Gd. Friends and colleagues staff the night clinic just north of the San Diego border. They do not ask the sick, thirsty children why their parents bring them so far to feel so awful. Instructive hindsight is reserved mainly for the healthy and rested. The work of children is play. Unless we commit to supporting the health of ALL of our sister’s and brother’s children, generations will not thrive, and the old will wither alone.
8
@Zab Fitz, I will remind you, economic hardship is not legal grounds to request asylum. If simply seeking a better life were valid grounds for entry, we would have to allow a billion people to come in.
Asylum laws are clear: there has to be some sort of persecution. Without proof of that, you don't get to come here under current asylum laws.
20
@Jesse The Conservative It’s not just the liberals - conservative businesses and agriculture want cheap labor at the taxpayer’s expense. I’d rather pay more for goods and services and less for taxes to cover this problem.
3
These are the victims of a system that disdains creative, humanitarian problem solving. Although these situations were brewing under the Obama administration, they seem to have flourished under the new American ethic that favors bullying over charity.
Yes, there's a boatload of issues: South/Central American politics, profits from illegal drugs, American immigration policies, and our country's inability to appropriately provide healthcare. Most of those things defy our control at the moment. But what if the Country could change course, even overcome our xenophobia and our fear of being helpful?
Instead of spending billions on walls, we could create well-run Crisis/Resettling Facilities. Programs that recognized that in 10, 20 or 30 years, that could be your kid in the truck. Or, in a "There but for the grace of God" reality: That is your kid in the truck.
8
@J. Matilda "Instead of spending billions on walls, we could create well-run Crisis/Resettling Facilities."
Sounds like a plan J. Matilda. By the way, just how many "Crisis/Resettling Facilities" can we count on being built up there in your home state of Connecticut and welcomed by you and your neighbors? That's what I thought.
30
In Connecticut people decry high taxes but never see that their belief system = high taxes. Never occurs to them.
6
Bring them to California! We got work to do in our rich socialist state that must always fail because capitalists said so!
To bad the red states have no jobs and are suffering because of the massive amount of socialist policy that weighs them down!
No work? Leave! Take a note from the migrants and come to a place where there are jobs and people let you live your life for the most part as you choose!
The rich socialist blue states that welcome immigration are ready! Let’s get to work people! We can do it!
This information serves as an invaluable PSA to American citizens.
5
Very sad. However, we do not have a national healthcare program. Many of citizens in US, including my son, does not have medical insurance and hence limited healthcare. I do not believe refugees should be given priority over our own citizens. If private. Charities address needs, I am all for it. The delivery of health services for many is the ugly part of the US. Refugees should be told before they leave home that there is no national healthcare in the US.
61
There is a very simple principle here. With children we call it "In Loco Parentis, in place of the parent." Whether at school, church, or as a babysitter, if you take charge of children you become legally responsible for their well-being. When a government takes anyone, adult or child, into Involuntary custody, the same applies. They are not free to seek help or medical treatment, so they need to be kept safe from unauthorized punishments and be treated if they are ill, injured, dehydrated, etc. Rufusal to provide care to the sick, contagious, and/or injured is Cruel and Unusual.
13
This account is mostly anecdotal. The reporters wax eloquent but tell us little about the scope of the problem. The one glaring statistic is that 2200 people cross the border daily, which is twice the number reported by the government. FYI, USA Today reports 451 cases reported to doctors and other providers, including 259 children in a typical week and 17 hospitalizations. And, It reports that at any given time there are about 2,000 with respiratory infections.
I confess I’m a numbers guy and I don’t like it when total border crossers appear to be drastically exaggerated and I am told of a couple of particularly bad cases with no information about how many cases there are.
16
Seems like we have a border crisis after all. A humanitarian crisis at the border and a crisis of conscience, of faith, of caring elsewhere. Those arriving sick at the border need medical help. I don't know if there is a treatment for our spiritual decay.
11
@Wolfgang Schmidt I'd be pretty sure these people didn't all suddenly get sick the moment they hit the border line, : except for the unfortunate one who fell
Since when it is our responsibility to provide medical care to anyone who decides to try and walk across our border? My own son is working hard and even with company insurance is facing mounting medical bills since he was recently diagnosed with cancer and he is a legal citizen.
110
When is it our responsibility? When we can! And we definitely can, as I’m sure you would agree. We are the richest nation on earth, aren’t we? Not to mention that instead of accepting people looking to escape harm (often times originated by our previous imperialist foreign policy in Central America) and claim asylum, we make them travel through many miles of open desert as a deterrent, which kills many of them to begin with. Do you think someone treks through the desert like that because they want to?
Your situation is very sad, and I hope for nothing but the best for him. The US can also take care of him too though, and that’s the point I’m trying to make. There’s no reason that a nation as wealthy as ours can’t do both. $5.9 trillion spent on wars since 9/11, which essentially destabilized the Middle East in the long run. Great. 1.5 trillion in tax cuts just given to the rich. Think about what that amount of money could do here in terms of universal health care and other things we desperately need in this country.
12
@DeAnna
It's truly sad to read that your son is facing mounting medical bills since being diagnosed with cancer. As if such a diagnosis wasn't bad enough.
Maybe such a tragic situation is an argument for Medicare for all.
10
Just what we need - criminals bringing communicable diseases, burdening our already broken healthcare system.
76
According to a story in the Washington Post, the number of migrants being detained at the border is "staggering."
55,000 in Jan, 70,000 in Feb, with large increases expected in March and April as the weather warms. Numbers are projected to be close to those not seen since W was president.
Over 2000 a day are currently entering the country and according to the WaPo story, many are removing ankle bracelets, not showing up at hearings, and disappearing into the country.
Now we read that there are not enough safe, clean places with medical facilities to hold all those who are coming, many injured or sick.
I've been told repeatedly by the leaders of my party, by editorials in this paper, that this is not a crisis. That it's business as usual.
Given what's happening, How can that possibly be true?
80
@Talbot
[[I've been told repeatedly by the leaders of my party, by editorials in this paper, that this is not a crisis. That it's business as usual. Given what's happening, How can that possibly be true?]]
Trump's chant of "build the wall" is merely a distraction. The real work of the Republican Party is placing as many "conservative" judges as possible on the federal bench.
Instead of (or in addition to) ankle bracelets, I would like to see retinal scans and DNA swabs. I would like to see a vicious crackdown on the people supplying phony identities and the people who hire illegal immigrants using phony identities. (Let that sink in for a minute.)
For repeat illegal border crossers, go 10 year ban, 20 year ban, lifetime ban...meaning that neither you nor your child could obtain citizenship for those periods.
Is it a "crisis"? It's a situation, one that needs serious attention and not absurd pandering.
8
@Third.coast I want it fixed. To someone who flouts immigration law to begin with, a 10 year or lifetime ban is meaningless. Proper border security is needed : action, not vague promises and not unproductive chats with the leaders of these countries.
3
Since there are short falls in health care for everyone it should not be a surprise when illegals who are very unhealthy have issues. Nothing is prefect and if they stayed home it would not be our problem. Sure we should improve, improve deporting them immediately so the issues are not ours.
39
@vulcanalex
So you would would prevent a dying woman from getting life-saving care from the EMT workers who are right there trying to help her and turn her away at the border to die.
You are an example for us on these boards of people who vote for Republicans
5
@Lynn
Lynn, you make the incorrect assumption that anyone who wants to stop illegals from entering this country surely must vote Republican. I sincerely hope that you, along with the Paper of Record, might one day learn to think critically and stop making assumptions about groups of people.
5
Vulcanalex has been posting on the NYT for years and is definitely a Republican.
2
How many millions of American citizens cannot afford or do not have access to government medical care to treat their serious illnesses and injuries?
How many US Veterans slept on the cold streets last night or are in need of urgent medical care for severe illnesses or injuries?
How many of our own infants and toddlers have never seen a doctor or been immunized?
How many American workers do not even have healthcare coverage?
122
@Dr. John The answer to all your questions: a whole lot. Which is why we (you, me and every other American) should be fighting for a decent society at all levels--one in which all Americans can get access to decent healthcare and one in which those who've been apprehended for illegal border crossing don't have to die or suffer needlessly.
..the article was interesting, the following notable comments tell it all.
..“Border Patrol is a law enforcement agency. It’s not a humanitarian agency,” said Dr. Alexander L. Eastman, a senior medical officer with the Homeland Security Department who is trying to put into place, for the first time, a comprehensive approach to the care of migrants across the department..."
There needs to border security - most Americans agree on that - however, "an comprehensive approach to the care of migrants" is necessary.
3
So let me get this straight -- these people commit a crime by sneaking into the country, don't receive medical attention for a couple of days -- and somehow this is our fault?
This is just more evidence that we have to put a stop to the travesty of illegal immigration once and for all.
162
Do you speed to get somewhere you want to go? How many people die every year from speeders? You’re more a threat and cost to our lives than these migrants!
All too expedient and absolving to blame the victims. "They shouldn't have come in the first place. It's their fault for dragging their children on a dangerous journey." I hope those who use this faulty justification are never forced into a decision of evil and more evil.
Too easy to blame the victims and distance yourself from any humanity. "I'm sorry, but..."
It is never right to abandon our humanity. It is never right to use defenseless and hopeless human beings as pawns to justify an inhumane and yes, racist policy.
Some of the commenters I've read to this article would also be at home with "I was only following orders."
Implementing, condoning and excusing evil changes nothing. Wrong is wrong.
16
@jkpitt Evil and more evil??? Stay home, avoid your risk, or just take and accept your portion of the risk.
19
I'd say they didn't develop chronic health conditions in the 72 hours with the CBP. Hey, maybe the bleeding hearts can help spark a breakout of meningitis or other infectious diseases imported from the south.
40
It's a upside-down country we live in. The illegal immigrants voluntarily make an arduous trip to illegally enter the United States - are sick or injured - coming in large numbers that would overwhelm any sort of immigration intake system - and then are shocked or insulted or furious that they're not getting full comprehensive medical care. I'm personally very left leaning politically, but that doesn't mean I've lost all my common sense or critical thinking faculties. And I'm not without compassion for people who are sick. Still, at the same time - the sense of entitlement is offensive - we have homeless, poor, under and un-insured. Veterans living on the street. Poor, working class, elderly, even middle-class who can barely afford healthcare or go into debt to pay for it. This country has proven for decades that it doesn't care about the well-being of its own citizens - we're all on our own - so to see the "steady flow of migrants" expecting to be taken care of is irritating as all get out.
Hey - and the more articles like this - the better chance Trump has of winning again - taking the Senate with him and maybe snatching the House back again. The Democratic establishment party - has been out of touch with voters for an awfully long time - they think illegal immigration and the care and feeding of these people is a winning issue - nothing could be further from the truth.
257
@Kate Flannery
Establishment Democrats mostly seem to be Regan Republicans. Green Democrats are more like 60s Democrats.
Bill Clinton did more for Wall Street than as he reduced benefits for impoverished citizens. The ACA was a very flawed bill, keeping the middle man! and creating a tax -- that did not bother me -- what bothers me is the persistence of overpaid middlemen.
6
@Kate Flannery Thanks--as one who committed a professional life time to providing health services to the disenfranchised I sincerely appreciate the framing/content
of your response
6
@Kate Flannery
I've agonized over this issue for years. I used to work in an elementary school full of El Salvadorean children - some percentage of whom were illegal. I used to get to school before dawn some days and see the bright lights of our INS - taking people who were illegal out of their homes. We - the U.S.- had a heavy and shameful role in how politics unfolded in El Salvador. But we don't even care for our own poor and needy, so how can we "take in" those of the rest of the world?
10
The best way for migrants to avoid arriving at the US border sick and vulnerable- is to be a journey never made. Attacking this problem at the source is the best way to stop this problem from getting as far as our border. Two ways to make this happen- helping make opportunities in the home country and making an attempt to migrate north a zero chance proposition.
53
@Victor Lacca Forget helping these countries, and a zero chance is not sufficient, it needs to be a very negative one.
6
One of the important steps for aspiring immigrants, in addition to the checks by DHS, are the medical checks.
4
This is ridiculous. The US government cannot give decent medical care to its own citizens. But now the government is supposed to open medical centers at the border because illegals also need medical care.
I am very concerned that the Democratic party has dug itself a hole from which it will never successfully emerge. When was the last time we heard ANY Democratic politician talking about a need for immigration enforcement? As a result, in 2020 we are likely to get another Republican president, either Trump or a different Republican with the same policies. Unfortunately, immigration is an emotional issue that causes even liberals to switch parties when it comes time to vote.
A desire for enforcing immigration controls is widespread throughout the US electorate. I have lost count of the number of people who have told me in essence "I hate Trump, in most ways he is a terrible President. But I agree with his immigration stance." The Democratic party needs to wake up and start living in the real world, if they want to have even a chance of winning in 2020.
150
@wist45 Agreed. Actually, I think the Dems would have won in 2016, even with Hillary as the candidate, if they took a strong stance against illegal immigration, anchor babies and 'birth' tourism, and re-assessed the chain migration laws. But instead, they insisted there was no immigration issue and that open borders are humane and necessary. If you even questioned the sense and cost of this, you were labeled a xenophobe or inhumane racist.
2
I don't like the framing done by the article. It's not very honest.
(1) "the deaths of two children in Border Patrol custody point to shortfalls in health care provided to migrants" -> I would say it points to parents who dragged their children through lengthy, dangerous and arduous journeys across thousands of miles. After such journeys, they present themselves at remote thinly-resourced and overcrowded border stations (or border agents) who were never meant to be health care providers.
(2) "signs of entrenched problems that put detainees at risk" -> like the fact that the main mission of CBP/ICE is law/border enforcement not health care provision?
-> like the fact that barriers are there to make it tough to cross illegally (article points out that illegal immigrants injure themselves on the barriers or because they have to cross at even more remote locations)
I'm sorry but it seems to me that the illegal immigrants are putting themselves at risk. Period.
(3) "Ailing Migrants Suffer at the Border" -> I'm sure they were suffering before they reached the Border. I'm not sure why they would expect not to suffer after they reach the border.
257
@liberty Thank you for pointing out the obvious problems with this article, and the obvious problems at the border that NYT and others falsely deny
57
When Trump says “fake news” this is why most people agree
10
@liberty “I don't like the framing done by the article. It's not very honest.”
It’s entirely honest. It just doesn’t fit your narrative.
6
We must care for these people to the extent we are able, but they are economic migrants. and poverty is not a basis for asylum.
38
Every one of these migrants made a choice to pay human smugglers thousands of dollars to traffic them and their children a thousand miles across several countries to enter the U.S.
Not seeking asylum in safe countries in the region like Costa Rica or Belize or even in Mexico where Americans travel, retire and receive good healthcare. 70% of even those claiming asylum (who actually show up for their hearings) are denied.
521,090 crossed the southern border in 2018, 415,517 in 2017....where does it end? Who pays for all the services they receive when taxpayers are increasingly burdened with their own healthcare costs?
They reach the border and we are just supposed to let them all flow over unimpeded and then unaccountable to laws or any contribution to the general welfare?
It has to stop. The word has to get out in these countries that the free for all is over. We will no longer allow lawless opportunists to manipulate what has been a willfully negligent system.
Help these people stay in their countries. I would far rather my tax money go to stop the abusive never ending chaos at the source.
155
One doctor friend of mine volunteers in Third World countries to provide medical care. A former dentist of mine goes to Central America about twice a year to do the same. If US agencies cannot get their act together and care for these people, perhaps Doctors Without Borders could help.
11
I feel that we are morally obligated to help care for these people. That doesn't mean that we have to do it on this side of the border. If we can provide military support and weapons to nations throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and South and Central America, why can't we provide medical help for these poor souls just across the border? The cost of this would be a pittance compared to the military and intelligence budgets.
On the other hand, there are immigration laws, and these, like the border. need to be respected. Rather than blame Trump and the Border Patrol for this problem, the blame should go to the immigrants who both ignored the laws and the border and placed the lives of their own families and children in critical danger. They created their own problem.
14
@Michael If you feel morally required to do something, use charity and your money, not taxes.
29
Cool! How about you don’t use my money for ICE or border patrol. You fund it through charity and such.
This article summarizes the current state of health care for the vast billions of people in the lower 3/4 of the world's economy. If Americans traveled more outside of their coddled bubble, they would realize how good they have it compared to the great "unwashed" of the rest of the world, especially with our health care standards. Even a local "doc in a box" storefront has better care than most countries.
18
This article summarizes the current state of health care for the vast billions of people in the lower 3/4 of the world's economy. If Americans traveled more outside of their coddled bubble, they would realize how good they have it compared to the great "unwashed" of the rest of the world, especially with our health care standards. Even a local "doc in a box" storefront in the U.S. provides better care than most countries' available primary care services.
What type of human beings treat other human being this way? Most of us treat our pets better than this.
9
@Gayle P Normal people who are not perfect, and yes we are responsible for our pets, we made that decision it was not forced on us by illegal actions.
15
“An average of 2,200 migrants a day are now crossing the nation’s 1,900-mile border with Mexico”
Assuming that these are illegal aliens or, more likely, asylum scammers, this amounts to 800,000 per year.
800,000.
This isn't a crisis? We don’t need a wall?
165
@John
Ancient Chinese technology is not necessarily a good solution to this issue.
Visa overstays is a bigger issue.
19
@ron
Your argument is irrelevant in the context of law enforcement. We don't stop enforcing laws in one area because crime is occurring in another. Men commit more crimes. We don't stop prosecuting women. It's a silly argument.
30
@ron
With due respect, a physical barrier is the ONLY technology that will work.
The primary issue has now become amnesty scammers.
Their goal is to simply step across the border and turn themselves in. Again, they WANT to be caught, and as quickly as possible.
By claiming asylum, they are then entitled to about two years of free shelter, food, education, and medical care. After that, about 40% don't even show up for their asylum hearings.
(Note: Asylum scamming is not a victimless activity. It not only defrauds U.S. taxpayers, it also poisons the well for those with legitimate asylum claims.)
Drones, sensors, cameras, etc. are all so very modern, but none of them prevent asylum scammers from simply stepping across the border.
And, please note, the 800K is based just on those who walk across the southern border. The visa overstays are on top of that. And, you are very correct, we need to focus on that problem as well.
65
Crime against humanity comes to my mind. We have become a seriously sick nation under Trump. Clearly, this is not even what majority of us Americans wants. For myself, I don’t want any part these crimes and in this GOP criminal enterprise. Voting matters and silence matters. So always vote and always speak up. Like you see something say something.
3
@Kapil
Yes voting matters, and voters will overwhelm the Democrats as the illegal alien crisis continues to escalate.
2
@Kapil Please let us know what Trump had to do with the situation - he shut down no hospitals.
Then we lose the election on our principles. So be it! We end up in your little rich kid narcissistic police state utopia where only republicans like you are allowed to vote and say what they believe with no scientific or academic substance to substantiate anything.
Are our border patrol agents now Required to have EMT training as part of their resume? Wake up politicians...we have a crisis at our border. 70,000 apprehended last month? Start legislating instead of “investigating.” Do your job and fix our immigration laws.
131
Actually, EMT training is a good thing for all cops. It was incorporated into my police academy training. I used it extensively on the job and as a volunteer EMT with my local volunteer fire department.
3
@Pvbeachbum If we enforced eVerify and put employers in jail, we would not have so many coming.
11
Republicans will never do that. They just want your support so they can achieve their power grabs for their cronies in power. Just look at the agencies and their leadership under Trump. Do you think any of those people care about migrants? They probably want more undocumented. The wall is their tool to keep you in their pocket and accomplished nothing that harms their economic interests!
Shabby health care. Well, they're getting their first taste of America.
32
Yet people throughout the world come to the United States precisely because of our superior healthcare. Suggest you consider Cuba one Venezuela as examples of poor healthcare.
4
@Truthbeknown It's as good as your health insurance. If you can't access what you need because you have no insurance, bad insurance or because your insurance won't cover something then it is indeed shabby. Other countries around the world have far superior healthcare as the numbers show. Anyone coming here has to be able to afford the procedure. People are actually flocking to other countries for procedures and medications.
2
@Truthbeknown, I have no sympathy for the corrupt, communist government of Cuba. But the fact is that they have an outstanding health system with health outcomes better than ours. Look it up.
3
To all the commenters saying the US is responsible for providing medical relief...why do you think they keep showing up at the border? There's free aide here.
At what point is the US just being taken advantage?
124
@KB
It is not “the US” - it is you and me and our kids and grandkids. They will inherit the mountain of debt this costs.
13
2,200 per day. Annualize that and then explain how we don't have a problem, a severe problem, with illegal entry at the southern border. A fraction of these figures might be qualified refugee claims. It is very likely most are not.
It is equally likely that one answer to HELP stem this flow is a barrier. Airports and seaports use them. Most of our leaders use them. Heck even interstate highways use them.
66
Again the words that haven't been spoken; Crimes Against Humanity. That is what is happening.
9
@William Really??? Now killing them all so they could not get into our country might be a crime, this is just normal variation.
8
Having worked in emergency rooms for years I can say that one of the most risky and common patient encounters is a hot baby brought in by a migrant usually late in the evening. Every one could have meningitis at an early stage. Do you do a full work up on every one? And if something goes wrong they have the full benefit of the US legal contingency system to be compensated unlike in their native countries. You can be sure the cases discussed in this article will be sought out by the plaintiff bar. That means you don't practice without expensive malpractice insurance because no matter what you do something could go wrong or you could make a wrong judgement or they could be lost to followup. And the decision regarding liability is going to be made by a jury, not experts, and a crying Honduran lady is a lot more sympathetic than a US doctor. So add to the maintenance costs of every migrant the medical malpractice risk associated with any medical care they may receive. Think about the two hot babies on the border who died earlier this year who were seen in ERs. The families have already filed multi million dollar lawsuits and they and their attorneys will certainly get something. Most well meaning people do not understand the hidden liability costs that exist in our society.
221
@as
I couldn't agree more. The Emergency Departments are a common visit for many immigrants, illegal or otherwise. The language barrier, even with interpreter phones (paid by us) helps, but much is always lost in translation. For the most part, these patients are respectful and grateful, but I will never understand or accept the relationship I have with them. I have to see and understand what they have been exposed to or suffer from and treat them perfectly for free, or suffer the wrath of a lawsuit when something goes wrong or unexpected? That will never seem even remotely fair.
68
You work in an ER. Let “do no harm” be your guide, not Donald Trump.
8
@as As a nyc physician saddled with debt and paying huge malpractice premiums as well as my own families health insurance of 2.5k a month, I can vouch for the fact that it will be extremely expensive to get huge numbers of well qualified physicians to move their families to work in hospitals in the middle of nowhere. The US can't even find enough doctors to staff the Native American hospitals and clinics. Maybe some sort of debt forgiveness program but then you get young doctors with little experience.
13
So a wall is immoral but the catastrophic consequences of a porous and chaotic southern border are not?
239
@Luciano ok, so if the "catastrophic consequences of a porous and chaotic southern border" is immoral, then why aren't we doing anything to improve it on the ground? Do you think a wall is going to help when these are people seeking asylum and then end up at these facilities and get treated inhumanly? A wall doesn't fix that.
8
@Luciano This article convinced me we need a wall to deter people from coming. 2200 per day is three quarters of a million per year.
14
@Luciano The Republican party has lost ANY claim to morality.
11
In the case of the patient driven across the border only to be turned back before being taken to a hospital: Why should one side of a border crossing be required to provide emergency medical care to the foreign national? Shouldn't there be some assignment of responsibility to the Mexican health Care system?
66
Yes, NYT, with these stories it shows what a crisis/emergency there is at the border, each month record-breaking numbers of Central Americans with children coming to apply for asylum. But the children are sick because of the arduous journey; the injuries occur for the same reason and, as we heard during Trump's state of the union the horrible sexual assaults on women. But it is wrong and outrageous to say the border patrol does nothing to help those they catch -- in fact, the opposite is true. They get the sick to hospitals, they provide blankets, beverages and food, they provide a lot more than many homeless in this nation receive. We hear of the suffering but never in this paper of why so many bring small children with them. And we never hear, not in this newspaper, how many come to this country to work and send their money back to Guatemala so they an build that house in their homeland, you know, the one they want to flee out of fear?
91
@gmt this comment is so spot on. Thank you.
5
If the leaders of this country who are in charge, try to decimate healthcare treatment and insurance for 30 million of their own citizens by doing away with the ACA, do you really think they care about people from other countries?
I will never forget Paul Ryan’s smirk the day the House voted to do away with the ACA. That smirk was only indicative of the disregard for human life this current administration and Republican clan has for humanity.
I could picture them stepping over sick, suffering people, literally, without feeling a thing. As a nurse of many years it is just one more time to feel the current disrespect for “do no harm”.
127
@MIMA
ACA could be much more effective, robust and affordable if we would use limited funds to support American citizens instead of encouraging immigrants to walk into our country for totally free care.
37
So much for the light on the hill of liberty and justice for all.
I find it amazing how they complain about us not helping America’s so their actions are justified. Yet when we try to help them they scream socialism and then blame the rich liberal blue states for all the wrong in the world while they hold their guns as more valuable than the lives of their neighbors.
5
@Dr. John
Just think how much more effective, robust and affordable the ACA could be with another 5.7 billion!
13
It all depends how you define the problem. If you define the people south of the border themselves as the problem, then blocking them out with a wall makes sense. But if you define the poor care and poor conditions south of the border as the problem, then building a wall just allows the problem to get worse, behind a wall.
And either way, building a permanent structure to solve an emergency is inconsistent. What will Trump do when the state of emergency ends? Tear down the wall?
3
@James, Every President hes contributed to "the Wall", even Obama.
12
@James This is why the rich live in gated communities...
5
No one should have no or inadequate access to health care and that includes the children (and adults) that are American citizens who often lack access to health care or inadequate health care. People that live in rural areas, on Native American reservations and in inner cities often have no access or inadequate health care.
I bet health care in the United States (when it is available) is better than the health care where these migrants come from.
3
As the greatest nation of Earth, we can do much better to secure the health and safety of these migrants. It gets at who we are. We are a compassionate, merciful nation that threats those who are vulnerable with human respect and dignity. We are a nation of immigrants who came to this land seeking freedom, economic opportunity and a better life.
Providing inadequate medical services denigrates the values of this nation. It sends a message that we value some lives over others. These are human beings who deserve competent healthcare and to be treated as we would want our own children or parents to be treated.
It is not easy to be a great nation. If we are to remain a beacon of hope for the world, we have to be willing to devote the resources necessary to uphold our principles. This means providing competent medical care at the border. It means seeing migrants as human beings, rather than problems.
The only crisis at the border relates to our own collective conscience as a nation. We cannot consider ourselves people of God while ignoring children who suffer needlessly. It just doesn't work that way.
With the amount of prosperity and overabundance that exists in the US, we can provide better medical care, food, clothing and housing to migrant children and adults. If we fail to do so, it is a failure of borne of apathy, bigotry and greed. Then, we have failed to live-up to the vision of America as that "shining city on the hill".
26
Absolute nonsense. People love to talk about how great "we" are while advocating that "we" undermine our society. Take some personal responsibility. Tell us about what you are, what you are willing to do. You don't speak for me.
23
@Joseph A. Riccardo, Jr.
Overabundance you say. When do the resources ever run out- we have US citizens in need- underfunded education, inner city homelessness, elder care problems, infrastructure issues everywhere, mental health problems, national disasters every year, a terrorism concern, and the list goes on. We do need mechanisms of order at the very base to make any of our prosperity work at all.
21
There is a serious "national and humanitarian emergency" at the Southern Border, all right. And the United States is deeply derelict in its duty to provide something in the way of medical relief for these migrants.
The argument will be made that "They wouldn't be suffering if they didn't come here." But they *are* here, and any government with a sense of compassion would not allow these atrocities to take place on its own soil.
Or is the real problem that these migrants are brown people?
The president of the United States has much to answer for as far as his character; his history; his "governance;" his sense of morality and scrupulosity are concerned. But this open wound, this running sewer at our border, will be his deepest, most shameful and lasting legacy. These people are not importing drugs and trafficking in sex rings. They are desperate to escape conditions that are unbearable in their home countries.
There must be a much more humane way to turn people away without dehumanizing them. Perhaps Congress should seriously address this issue as it never has before. But no; instead, they run for re-election after they've just been elected. Their allegiance is not to the constituents or to the nation but to their donors.
If these migrants weren't European in origin, there wouldn't be a problem.
18
@Red Sox, ‘04, ‘07, ‘13, ‘18
'There must be a much more humane way to turn people away.'
Sure, but I do not think they want to be turned away in humane ways and turning people away is not the point of this article. This article pleads for allowing all migrants in and addressing their medical needs in prompt, professional fashion, free of charge of course, the moment they enter the US, regardless of the point of entry or method of entry, legal or illegal. Hopefully, the universal health care system proposed by Democratic presidential nominees will include a ring of efficient, well equipped mobile free clinics along the border, at the point of entry and also at points where migrants are likely to attempt illegal crossings.
7
Clearly there's a national crisis and the wall is necessary to prevent so many illegal crossings.
And if people are going to cross illegally in remote locations, I really don't see why the expectation is for there to be a level I trauma center nearby. I really don't.
186
@liberty- I guess you missed the part where they came up to the border seeking asylum, not crossing a river in the dark of night.
8
@liberty
The Times and many democrats don't like that people are suffering, but it refuses to support measures that would prevent this chaos.
Rational Americans realize that sanity at our border requires strong barriers and enforcement measures that don't telegraph "easy entry" and "free medical care". That's insanity.
45
@liberty They came up to the border seeking asylum, the procedure they're supposed to do, which you would have noted if you cared to actually read the article.
5
It is heartbreaking that this suffering is occurring partly as the result of political fighting in the U.S. between Dems and Pubs.
Honestly, although I despise Trump, I am dissatisfied with my own party on how its leaders are handling the immigration controversy (a crisis only for those desperate to enter our country).
The main Dem talking points seem to be entirely about the suffering of desperate families trying to enter the U.S. any way they can. I am not getting clear messaging from Dems that all immigration must be done through legal channels.
We have signed a treaty that requires we consider the claims of everyone who comes to us for refugee status, but we are unwilling to foot the huge bill required to do this in an orderly way that doesn't allow undocumented people to slip through the cracks and become residents.
Can we at least deal with this without pandering to either people's fear or impractical kindness? We cannot allow every human being on the planet to come here that is victimized by a failed state.
73
@alan haigh
Nor those who are not "victimized" by anybody.
10
@alan haigh
How about facing reality. The US is demographically largely Latino at this point. Look at any grammar school in the US. The future electorate is brown and largely Latino. My kid's classrooms are largely Latino. They have to speak Spanish. The demographic transition has already occurred. Right now the US taxpayer is paying for the social problems and population problems of Central American and Mexico without any say in fixing it and none of the benefits of the resources. One solution that will eventually happen either in the near or distant future is political and economic integration. Why should a child born south of the border have less opportunity than one born north of the border. These "nations" have had over a hundred years and massive resources (e.g. Oil, land etc.) to take care of their people and the people have voted with their feet northwards. The US should demand referendums in these countries and integrate them politically and economically and if the leadership refuses because they want to continue to steal while they keep their lilly pads in Paris or Miami they should be threatened with repatriation of their illegals which would trigger a revolution in their countries. Right now we have taxation without representation. Without control and rule of law we cannot fix the problem. An open border solves nothing. Mexico and Central America and Venezuela are not poor because they have no resources.
7