US Border Patrol agents have quarantined nearly three dozen migrants who were being held at the agency’s main processing facility in McAllen, Tex after they were found to be infected with the influenza virus, reports The Texas Tribune.
To stop the spread of the flu, CBP temporarily halted operations at its Central Processing Center on Tuesday, a day after the death of 16-year-old Carlos Hernandez Vasquez, who had been detained at the facility and had tested positive for influenza.
The agency identified 32 migrants with influenza after a rigorous health screening of the detainee population, said the CBP official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity during a conference call with reporters.
The government agency tasked with policing America’s borders has warned repeatedly of crisis conditions on the southwest border, where Border Patrol agents are arresting and detaining a rapidly growing number of migrants. The agency says it does not have the capacity to care for the crush of migrants, which has overwhelmed nearly all aspects of the US immigration system.
