In early July, Pima County health officials dismissed concerns about the health risks associated with the Unaccompanied Alien Children who have been arriving at the Nogales Border Patrol Station. As reported by the AZDI, County health officials relied on limited information by the federal government.
On Thursday, ABC News confirmed what AZDI sources revealed earlier, “there is virtually no health screening of any real public health value done on the UACs.”
The AZDI first reported, that sources working with the Office of Border Health reported that Arizona health officials have been unable to communicate with federal officials in any meaningful way. Nor are the federal agencies communicating with each other.”
ABC News now reports, “The director of refugee health in the federal Health and Human Services Department “has identified a breakdown of the medical screening processes at the Nogales, Arizona, facility,” according to an internal Department of Defense memo reviewed by ABC News. The “breakdown” is a systemic failure of the handoff of these children between CBP and HHS.”
It was her concerns about the handoff of UACs, which lead Supervisor Ally Miller to inquire of the Pima County Health Department as to the health screening process employed before UACs are moved from the Nogales Border Patrol Station.
Miller’s office was told the Arizona Department of Health has not toured the facility in Nogales and has only had “peripheral oversight.”
The AZDI sources reported that there was no free flow of information among federal agencies involved or with state and local officials, which they claimed was leading to concerns with healthcare workers, who said that the lack of information could harm the public.
ABC News now reports, “The federal government is so overwhelmed by the current tide of migrants crossing the border it can’t provide basic medical screening to all of the children before transporting them – often by air – to longer-term holding facilities across the country.”
Relying on the federal government’s information, Garcia claimed in his memo, “Individuals with acute medical needs are transported to healthcare facilities for further evaluation and treatment. Some family units are subsequently released for reunification with their own U.S.-based families pending legal proceedings. Most of these families are in our locality for no more than a day or two, the final destinations for the vast majority of these individuals are the large metropolitan areas on both coasts that are the home of significant Central American populations.”
According to sources, Arizona State health officials also relied on the federals government’s assurances and misinformation. The Arizona Health Services Department licenses some of the facilities to which the UACs are transferred.
According to ABC News, “officials are sounding alarms, fearing that they and their teams who come in contact with the sick children face potential exposure to infectious diseases from chicken pox to influenza, including rare cases of H1N1, more commonly called swine flu.
Two Unaccompanied Alien Children were flown from Nogales to California despite having 101-degree fevers and flu-like symptoms, according to a memo ABC News obtained from the Department of Defense.
Between 140 to 200 UACs have been processed in and out of the Nogales facility a day.