SARS, avian flu, and bioterrorism are just a few of the risks to public safety that have resurfaced around the turn of the twenty-first century. Control of pathogens was also a driving force behind immigrant healthcare checks along the United States’ coasts in the late 1800s.
However, during the first 30 years of government control of the country’s borders, it was the sorting out of chronic illness and disability that truly inspired public health policemen on “the line” at Ellis Island, as well as other U.S. immigration terminals.
Each state was responsible for managing immigration from the colonial period through the end of the nineteenth century. However, in 1891, the national government acquired control of the country’s borders; this happened in response to the rising influx of people in the 1880s and 1890s, an increasingly sophisticated manufacturing powerhouse, and growing worries about the global spread of infectious illnesses.
While the Border Agency controlled admission determinations, the law mandated that immigrants be medically examined by the US Public Health Service (PHS). An immigrant was regarded as physically certified when a PHS physician officially diagnosed him or her with a sickness or disability that jeopardized his or her admission.
The law mandated that persons suffering from a dreadful or hazardous contagious disease receive a medical certificate from the PHS. Those with contagious disorders such as tuberculosis, venereal disease were required to be excluded.
NEW: Another large group of 200+ migrants has has turned themselves in at the ballpark in La Joya, TX. More are showing up. This is non stop. We have seen groups all day long, and this is only one tiny stretch of the border. Crisis not slowing. Cameo by @Julio_Rosas11. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/AW2CTEqWA9
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 2, 2021
How It Was Done Then
The “line” (which has become shorthand for the collection of methods and equipment used by physicians to quickly check millions of migrants) became the focal point of medical assessment. The threshold was set at Ellis Island when nearly 70% of migrants came to the United States.
As the ship progressed up the port after passing the sanitary examination in New York Harbor, IS and PHS inspectors embarked and inspected all first and second-class travelers. PHS officers ferried steerage or third-class travelers to Ellis Island by boat as the ship docked.
Biden's open border policies have caused a humanitarian & health crisis.
While the federal gov't does nothing, Texas is building a border wall & arresting illegal migrants caught trespassing.
No more catch & release. pic.twitter.com/Hp2aTU2mrk
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) August 4, 2021
Potential applicants approached the terminal one by one, hauling heavy luggage and moving slowly via a series of fenced passages resembling livestock cages. As they approached the end of the process, they slowly walked through one or more PHS officials who scanned them for a range of serious and moderate diseases and ailments.
How It is Done Now
Among the some one million and a half illegal migrants into the USA via the unprotected Southern border, there have been little to no health checks to ensure public safety in the states. Since the border wall was canceled by Joe Biden, there has been an unstoppable wave of migrants who avoid border authorities and enter into the country with COVID-19 or any other virus that may be deadly.
Check out the hundreds of people under the bridge. Ask yourself why the Biden admin made this happen and why this admin doesn’t care that it continues… #BorderCrisis pic.twitter.com/fzZZWPXnVW
— Sara A. Carter (@SaraCarterDC) August 2, 2021
Usually, the CDC would ensure strict health checkups on legal migrants; however, there is no way for them to control the masses now pouring in. The Biden administration is setting the stage for yet another wave of the Chinese virus, caused by mass uncontrolled illegal immigration.
