This
year is already the deadliest on record for U.S. Customs and Border Protection
(CBP) personnel, due to COVID-19 and illegal aliens.
The McAllen (Texas) Monitor reported this month that 10 CBP officers have died since March as a result of contracting coronavirus. No other year had more than seven line-of-duty fatalities, according to CBP records dating back to 2003.
Mark Morgan, acting commissioner of CBP, warned that Illegal border crossers are “putting every agent’s life at risk.” He said “several hundred” CBP officers have tested positive for COVID after contacts with migrants.
At an Aug. 6 teleconference, Morgan said filthy stash houses and crowded tractor-trailers have become “perfect incubators for COVID-19.” “[Illegal aliens are] traveling through COVID hotspots inside Mexico, a country whose COVID cases and deaths continue to rise. Even though some of the illegal aliens know, or highly suspect, that they have COVID, they’re still coming.”
In April, FAIR reported that CBP was using expedited deportation procedures to return illegal border crossers back to Mexico in an average of 96 minutes. But Morgan noted that even fleeting contact “endangers the lives of CBP personnel and their families. A single COVID illegal alien could infect hundreds of other illegal aliens, as well as our workforce.”
As for illegal aliens who evade
apprehension, Morgan said, “They don’t just remain in the border towns and
cities. It’s not about migrants risking their lives any longer. It’s way beyond
that. Now they’re risking the lives of everyone they come in contact with.”
Some of the contact
happens during CBP’s humanitarian work. So far this fiscal year, CBP agents
have rescued more than 3,900 injured or incapacitated illegal aliens. While
treated at hospitals, at least 60 migrants tested positive for COVID, Morgan
said. The number is probably higher, as the agency is not always notified of
the results.
The CBP chief concluded
with an appeal to anyone looking to enter the U.S. illegally: “Heed the
warnings of your own countries with respect to travel restrictions. Heed the
warnings of the medical experts that are saying this is not appropriate
behavior. You’re risking everybody’s life.”
Truer now than ever.
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