Trump Could Cite TB, Measles As Reasons To Deny Asylum Seekers

The Trump administration is considering a move to reject asylum seekers at the southern border on the basis that they might bring measles or tuberculosis infections with them into the U.S., reports the Wall Street Joiurnal. President Trump’s advisers have been looking for evidence of disease threats that would merit reviving a policy they used during the pandemic in his first term to push back migrants who sought asylum. The Trump administration sees the emergency health law, known as Title 42, as overriding laws that guarantee migrants a right to request humanitarian protection in the U.S.  White House officials have identified TB and measles as disease threats most likely to warrant invoking Title 42. The Health and Human Services department is sending Public Health Service officers to the border. 

Kansas is experiencing a TB outbreak, and measles cases have been reported recently in states including Texas. It isn’t known whether those cases have any connection to the southern border, where crossings have dropped in the past year. The general risk from both diseases remains low, public-health officials said. Trump signed an order on his first day in office last month banning migrants from requesting asylum because he said the southern border is under invasion. People close to Trump said the administration is looking for overlapping immigration policies in case courts strike some down. This week, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups sued to halt Trump’s executive order.  Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s health secretary nominee, would need to approve the health-emergency measure for measles or TB if he is confirmed by the Senate. Kennedy has questioned whether vaccines for measles are safe and whether the threat of measles is exaggerated. .