By Kristin Tate
Individuals and families immigrating to the U.S. legally are required to pay for and undergo medical examinations by approved physicians; those who are deemed as having “inadmissible health-related conditions” are not allowed into the country. But the same standards are not applied to illegal immigrants, many of whom remain in the U.S. despite testing positive for diseases that would prevent law-abiding migrants from entering.
The current border crisis has involved tens of thousands of Central Americans entering the U.S. illegally. Some of these individuals have tested positive for illnesses including tuberculosis, chicken pox, and other viruses-despite this, most of them are not immediately deported. Rather, they stay and receive medical care subsidized by U.S. taxpayers.
Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet-a preventive medicine physician, the former Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, and a recipient of a 2014 Ellis Island Medal of Honor-told Breitbart Texas, “Legal immigrants are required to pay for medical exams and screening tests conducted by approved physicians before they arrive here. They’re not arriving in the U.S. carrying diseases, and then being dispersed into cities across the nation.”