When President Obama announced his commitment to opening America’s borders to refugees, many worried about terrorism. But perhaps second only to that concern should be public health. Third world refugees are often carriers of infectious diseases that have been all but eradicated in the modern world. These diseases still pose a great danger. But the state of Virginia doesn’t seem to care:
The state of Virginia refuses to track the number of refugees it resettles who are diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB).
This refusal continues even as the number of cases diagnosed in the state has increased for two consecutive years, from 180 in 2013 — the year former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, a staunch Clinton ally, was elected governor — to 198 in 2014, the year he took office, to 212 in 2015, the last year for which data is available.
The percentage of foreign-born cases of TB in Virginia has increased from 74 percent in 2013 (147 out of 180) to 79 percent in 2015 (168 out of 212), well above the national average of 66 percent in 2015 (6,350 out of 9,536).
With Obama-Clinton allies like McAuliffe making decisions like this, is it any wonder why Donald Trump won? Americans are sick and tired of leaders who put dubious refugee security ahead of the health of the American people. Let’s hope Virginia sends Democrats packing ASAP.
