Some U.S. cities are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of illegal immigrants arriving from Ebola-stricken countries.
Ebola is a deadly virus that spreads quickly by direct contact with bodily fluids that contain the virus. Ebola is a virulent form of hemorrhagic fever that causes internal bleeding, vomiting, explosive diarrhea and high fever. Those who are infected usually die of shock (from loss of blood) within days.
Portland, Maine is overwhelmed by immigrants arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where new outbreaks of the deadly Ebola virus are being reported.
Portland officials complain that they are beyond capacity and cannot take anymore refugees arriving on U.S. government transport planes from the southern border.
DR Congo has recorded 2,000 new cases of Ebola in the last 10 months. Health officials confirmed the virus spread from Congo into Uganda. 2 new Ebola cases in Uganda – a grandmother and a three-year-old boy – were confirmed this week.
The boy, part of a Congolese family who crossed into Uganda earlier in the week, died overnight, the World Health Organization confirmed.
U.S. Border Patrol agents say 500 people from African countries have been arrested near the Del Rio Sector in Texas. Hundreds more refugees are arriving daily from Congo, seeking asylum.
The border is overwhelmed by migrants seeking asylum. The government’s answer is to ship the migrants to U.S. cities while they await hearings which could take years.
A San Antonio, Texas official admits she doesn’t check health records of migrants who pass through the city.
Interim Assistant City Manager Dr. Colleen Bridger says Portland officials begged her not to send anymore migrants their way.
“The plan was 350 of them would travel from San Antonio to Portland,” she said. “When we reached out to Portland, Maine, they said, ‘Please don’t send us any more. We’re already stretched way beyond our capacity,” Bridger said. “So we’re working with [the migrants] now to identify other cities throughout the United States where they can go and begin their asylum seeking process.”
Photos by PEDRO PARDO/AFP/Getty Images, Tyler Hicks/Liaison/Getty Images
