On 7/22/01 8:20 PM, "Barbara Lamar" <altamiratexas@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Usually undernourished people's immune systems shut down and they die of
> pneumonia, tuberculosis, or some other infectious disease. Tuberculosis is
> becoming quite a problem in Mexico lately and in certain poor areas of the
> U.S.A.
Tuberculosis isn't just a problem in poor areas. Just about *any* area with
a high population of recent immigrants, particularly illegal ones, has a
general problem with this disease.
In the greater Silicon Valley area, the incidence of TB is higher than in
many third world countries. People in wealthy neighborhoods who lead normal
cushy lives are testing positive for TB in this area. In the last 6 months
I know of two very well-off (unrelated) individuals who tested positive for
TB despite testing negative a year prior. Nothing in the lifestyle of these
people would suggest that they should contract TB. The fact that TB testing
is becoming a routine health check in the Bay Area indicates the severity of
the problem.
The problem is being caused almost entirely by the virtually unchecked
influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico, which is practically being
encouraged by the Federal government these days. Regardless of what you
think of illegal immigration, it is in fact posing a huge health risk to the
people that live in the border regions. The fact that TB and other diseases
directly linked to illegal immigration are approaching epidemic levels in
border regions supports the argument frequently leveled that the cost of
having open or loose borders with Mexico outweigh the costs to the people
that live on this side of the border. In a sense, the U.S. and Mexican
governments have been colluding in a way that allows Mexico to impose huge
external costs on the people who live in border states to the benefit of the
Mexican government and a few political/economic interests in the U.S. It is
no wonder that the people in these states are severely pissed about it.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:39:55 MDT