A coalition of Republican doctors in the House on Tuesday sent a letter to Dr. Anthony Fauci, asking him to address concerns about COVID-19 and the border crisis. Their concern about the public health pandemic grew after touring the border for themselves. According to the coalition, Dr. Fauci is in a position to make the public health emergency known.
“In your role as Chief Medical Advisor to the President, we feel it is imperative that you use your position to publicly express your concerns over the national health emergencies created by this surge in illegal immigration,” the letter, first obtained by the Daily Caller, reads.
“The enormous number of migrants coming into this country who are COVID-19 positive cannot help stop this pandemic from a health perspective. We witnessed first-hand how our Customs and Border Protection agents are being overwhelmed. At one illegal immigrant processing facility we visited, there were over 3,500 immigrants in a holding facility with a capacity of 250. We were informed that there had recently been over 5000 immigrants in the same facility,” the coalition explains. “These conditions do not meet your COVID-19 mitigation measures. As you well know, the spread of infectious diseases is horribly exacerbated in these conditions. As the top disease expert and director of a national agency overseeing an unprecedented virus, proper management of our country’s border and public health seems to fall precisely within your purview. As healthcare professionals with a wide range of specialties, we are extremely concerned about the pandemic worsening because of the crisis at the border.”
The health care providers also take issue with Dr. Fauci’s refusal to visit the border. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head said he has “nothing to do with the border,” something the GOP coalition feels he should address.
“… you are neglecting to weigh in on the public health emergency at the border, and we as physicians and healthcare professionals find this especially concerning,” the letter states. “We believe the threat of COVID-19 spreading at the border is an issue that is directly under your jurisdiction.”
The coalition cites the Biden administration’s reinstated catch-and-release policy, which allows illegal aliens into the interior of the United States, often times with nothing more than a court date, as an area of concern.
“There have been claims that thousands of migrants, many of whom have been released without a COVID-19 test or court date, are spreading the disease because of overcrowding and forced proximity at border facilities,” they explain. “These migrants, left unwatched and untested, have basically become an army of COVID-19 carriers overnight.”
“For you to not address this in your particular position borders on neglect of duty,” the coalition says. “You have a duty to address this carelessness and lack of health security.”
Compounding the concern is the fact that Mexico has the highest per capita COVID-19 fatality rate in Latin America. In order to get to the United States’ southern border, illegal aliens from Central America must trek through Mexico, where their exposure rate heightens.
In some Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities, like the one in Donna, Teas, overcrowding has been an ongoing problem. Less than two weeks ago, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) shared video of the horrifying conditions inside the facility that was at 1500% capacity. The surge at the border, in conjunction with the overcrowding, resulted in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) being deployed.
The letter is signed by Greg Murphy (R-NC), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Andy Harris (R-MD), John Joyce (R-PA), Brian Babin (R-TX), Buddy Carter (R-GA), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA), Drew Ferguson (R-GA), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Mark Green (R-TN), Larry Bucshon (R-IN), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), and Scott DesJarlais (R-TN).
Beth Baumann is a Political Reporter at The Daily Wire. Follow her on Twitter @eb454.