Coronoavirus border policy stopped 186,000 from 130 nations

FPI / July 26, 2020

President Donald Trump’s closing of the southern border early in the coronavirus crisis kept illegal immigrants from 70 percent of the world's nations from entering the United States to potentially spreading the virus, Trump administration officials say.

Officials said that 186,700 immigrants from 130 of the world’s 195 nations, including China and Mexico, were stopped from entering the country since the beginning of the year. Some 42 had unknown citizenship, Washington Examiner columnist Paul Bedard reported, citing administration data.

“The actions of President Trump quickly addressed public health threat posed by the coronavirus as migrant flows threatened to accelerate outbreak in the United States through the southwest border, and imploringly, helped ensure that fewer potentially infected, un-screened, un-vetted, and unauthorized aliens were entering U.S. detention facilities for the virus to spread to other parts of the country,” said an administration review.

An official added, “If not for this effort, tens of thousands of aliens acting as potential carriers for the coronavirus would have continued to enter law enforcement facilities near the border in congregate settings, making our southwest border a major vein for coronavirus outbreak. Due to this health risk, the U.S. border has never been more secure.”

Bedard noted that "Border tightening began in March after the Centers for Disease Control told the Department of Homeland Security to block illegal immigrants from entering. Their order was one of several Trump administration efforts to stop the spread of the virus."

The Trump administration's use of Title 42 authority to send back illegals in just a few hours instead of weeks has kept infections in local border communities low, officials said. And by sending illegal immigrants back across the border and keeping detention centers vacant, there has been little infection among Customs and Border Protection officials and other government workers.

“Had the president not exercised these authorities, many of these aliens would have entered the United States to remain in the country awaiting judicial proceedings while threatening to spread the virus,” the administration review said.

Study finds lockdowns didn’t work, herd immunity did

Covid lockdown orders and wide testing do not reduce virus death rates, according to a study posted in the British medical journal Lancet.

For the study, scientists from institutions in Canada, Greece and Texas consumed huge amounts of website data for 50 countries and their various government health authorities, such as the the U.S.’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study found "full lockdowns" were "not associated with statistically significant reductions in the number of critical cases or overall mortality."

The study statistically found a higher morbidity rate in countries that have increased obesity and gross domestic product. The U.S. fits both categories. America has one of at the world’s highest obesity rates. The CDC puts the adult rate at over 40 percent.

In a July 23 report for The Washington Times, Rowan Scarborough noted the study "would seem to be vindication of Sweden’s policy response to COVID-19 infections: no shutdowns and no widespread testing. After suffering a peak in deaths this spring, Sweden’s daily death count in mid-July has plunged to the single digits."

Observers credit the decrease to “herd immunity,” a natural build up of anti-bodies that thwarts the spread of the virus.

The study comes as Democratic governors, such as Gavin Newsom of California, want to keep many businesses and all schools closed, Scarborough noted.

"There is now a robust debate between small-government conservatives who want the U.S. economy and schools open versus state officials, mostly Democrats, who want to constrained public encounters and keep kids home. The Lancet study would seem to bolster the open-up side," Scarborough wrote.

The review site Yelp reported on Thursday that 55 percent of businesses which shut down won’t reopen.

Free Press International