Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is being sued by the state of Louisiana over accusations that the Biden-Harris administration allowed an illegal immigrant from China to enter the United States and expose hundreds of individuals to a deadly tuberculosis (TB) virus.
Louisiana’s lawsuit claims that Mayorkas acted “through his official capacity” as DHS secretary and allowed the illegal immigrant with TB to be housed in multiple Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.
The lawsuit claims that the illegal immigrant has caused an “emergency situation” in Louisiana due to the potential for the Chinese national to spread a “rare, aggressive, and drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, which carries high mortality rates.”
The state’s lawsuit, brought by Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, names DHS, ICE, and various detention facilities as defendants. Murrill is pushing for ICE to guarantee a clean bill of health before detained individuals are released from government facilities, according to WDSU. The outlet noted that ICE does not currently guarantee medical clearance for individuals released from its facilities.
“The protection of our southern border is paramount to the security of the United States,” Murrill said. “It is neither political nor unreasonable that Louisiana has time and time again demanded that the Biden-Harris administration defend this nation. Those not legally present should not be in the country – period.”
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“Millions of undocumented illegal aliens continue to pour across the southern border – unidentified, untracked, and untested for diseases that can threaten the lives of American citizens,” Murrill added. “The federal government has put the health and safety of Louisiana and American people at risk.”
The Daily Mail reported that Gov. Jeff Landry (R-La.) recently assured state residents during a press conference that Louisiana had “no indication that the public is in any danger.”
According to The Daily Mail, the Chinese national infected with TB illegally crossed the southern border between the United States and Mexico before being apprehended in July by law enforcement officials in California. The illegal immigrant was reportedly flown alongside 100 other detainees by DHS to Alexandria, Louisiana, and bused with 40 other individuals to Richwood Correction Center in Monroe, Louisiana.
The Daily Mail reported that the illegal immigrant was tested for TB and received a result that was “noted to be highly positive.” The outlet noted that the Chinese national’s TB infection also appears to be a “drug resistant” variant, which makes it very difficult to treat.
