Pima County health officials told area residents, ‘there is nothing to see here, move along,’ in a document dump at 4:50 p.m. on Friday.
The untraditional dump was delivered in an email from Pima County flak Mark Evans who sent a link to the documents and wrote, “The short version is that there is no significant adverse health impact on the county.”
The memo was produced in response to questions by Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller about risks to the community’s health and wellness posed by the population influx.
The College Place shelter in Tucson, Arizona for unaccompanied minors from Central America, who are part of the continuing border surge, is operating at or near capacity, according to the document dump by Dr. Francisco Garcia, Director, of the Pima County Health Department.
Since June 30, 273 minors have been placed in the shelter operated by Southwest Key. This shelter has a capacity of 283 beds, according to the memo. The shelter located at Miracle Mile and Drachman is licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services as a residential behavioral facility.
The Arizona Governor’s Office, and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services have yet to turn over documents sought about the preparations for shelter operation in Arizona.
According to Dr. Garcia, “The children in this facility will not attend local schools or childcare facilities. Some may be seen at local healthcare facilities in the event of an emergency or if they have a medical need that cannot be met onsite. These are expected to be rare exceptions.”
Garcia claims that of the more than 4,000 unaccompanied minors processed at the new Nogales facility; only “two cases of influenza, two cases of varicella (chicken pox), and a single case of tuberculosis were identified.” Garcia writes that “those children were provided follow-up care. The identification and treatment of these cases confirms the public health screening process at the Nogales facility is working.”
The Wisconsin Daily Independent reported that the National Border Patrol Council Local 1613 in Texas advised agents that they could be carrying diseases home to their families, like the families of agents in Pima County, and issued a directive and recommendations on their official website.
According to the WDI, the union recommended that all agents “should bring a second set of clothes (Including socks and shoes) to the station. Change clothes prior to going home so that you can minimize the chances of infecting any of your family or friends.… If possible we recommend showering at the station after each shift before going home.”
Agents were also advised to “get tested for TB in order to ensure you have a baseline.”
According to Mayor of Nogales, between 140 to 200 illegal aliens will be processed daily throughout the summer.
Dr. Garcia reported in his memo, “After three days, all medically cleared children are transferred by the Department of Defense” to temporary shelter facilities including Lackland Air Force Base, Ventura Naval Base, and Fort Sill, and others will be “transported to one of approximately 100 shelter facilities across the county.
Garcia claims that the minors are then “transferred by the Department of Defense by noncommercial air transport to temporary shelter facilities.”
However on Friday, July 11, the National Border Patrol Council released a statement confirming that they were notified that as recently as July 9, 2014, that “illegal aliens, who had been processed by Border Patrol agents in the Laredo Sector, were released with an I-862, Notice to Appear, and used that document as identification to board commercial aircraft at Laredo International Airport.”
The statement reads:
Border Patrol agents witnessed illegal aliens present the I-862s to Transportation Security Administration officers, who accepted the form, and cleared the illegal aliens through a security checkpoint, “ according to the statement. “ The Border Patrol agents notified the TSA officers that the I-862 is not a government issued form of identification. The TSA officer then notified a supervisor, who reviewed the documents, made copies, and told the Border Patrol agents that because the documents were issued by the Border Patrol that TSA was willing to accept them. Another supervisor looked over the documents and said they were going to forward them to their national headquarters for guidance.”
Subsequent inquiries made by National Border Patrol Council representatives indicate that TSA in Laredo has been accepting these documents as valid identification to travel for several weeks. The I-862 is issued as part of an illegal alien’s case file, contains no photograph, and has no security measures to prevent forgery or alterations. It does not positively identify an individual and could be reproduced on the most basic of home computers.
We stand behind the statements of Border Patrol agents and are confident that surveillance from the Laredo Airport will support these assertions. Any thorough investigation will show that TSA officers and supervisors were aware that the individuals were illegal aliens, had no valid identification, and were still cleared to fly. Our members, federal law enforcement agents, are willing to give sworn testimony as to what they witnessed.”
Garcia also claims that, “the children receive comprehensive services that include food, shelter, clothing, recreation, education, and medical services. Shelter facilities are not open access; the children are not permitted to exit the facility without staff supervision. They remain onsite until they are discharged to a safe and secure environment, reunified with family, or legally processed and repatriated.”
Only a small number of unaccompanied minors from Central American countries are ever repatriated.
Tucson Unified School District governing Board member Adelita Grijalva and Superintendent H.T Sanchez had hoped to enroll some of the children in the district which has lost approximately about 1,500 students each year for several years, due to area parents rejection of the politicization of the classroom.
However, the children in the care of Southwest key will find themselves in politicized classrooms, which according to Southwest Key offer a “Transformative education.” Transformative education is based on Critical Race Pedagogy.
Included in Garcia’s document dump was report issued by the Congressional Research Service, entitled, Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview. Check back tomorrow for more on that.
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Unaccompanied children to receive services from Southwest Key