Screenshot / Twitter
Immigration authorities would not allow doctors to set up a free flu vaccine clinic at a migrant detention center in San Diego—despite the fact that three children have recently died from the flu while in U.S. immigration custody. Four of those doctors were arrested for their efforts.
The licensed physicians were barred from entering the Chula Vista facility even though they were donating their time and the flu vaccines. They were told by CBP officials that providing medical care was not “feasible.”
An E.R. doctor from Los Angeles, Hannah Janeway, worries about the outcome of CBP’s decision:
“More people will die without the vaccine. There’s no doubt. They are being locked in cages in cold weather together, without any vaccination, in a year that is supposed to bring a horrible flu epidemic.”
“Our government, who is creating these conditions and allowing them to persist, is basically saying some people’s lives are worth more than others, and it’s OK for children to die.”
According to the Guardian, a group of 60 doctors and other advocates arrived at the station on Monday with 120 doses of the flu vaccine ready to go when they were denied entry. The DHS Press Secretary called the doctors “radical political activists” in a tweet, praising Border Patrol for not allowing the doctors to treat those in detention.
The current powers consider it “radical” and “political” to want people to get medical attention. Let that sink in.
— Devin Nunes’ Pig (@NunesPig) December 11, 2019
On Tuesday, the group went to the San Diego border patrol headquarters attempting to speak with officials. Several of the advocates protested CBP’s decision by blocking the entrance to the facility—six of the protestors were arrested, four of them doctors.
Video has surfaced showing the arrests being made by what many are calling “the army” due to their militarized gear.
Today Jews and Doctors marched to Border Patrol HQ in San Diego.
To demand that Border Patrol allow doctors in to give flu vaccines to immigrants.
And the army was brought out to arrest them.
This is where this administration has brought our country.pic.twitter.com/b9hc8bBBUs
— Joshua Potash 🆘 (@JoshuaPotash) December 10, 2019