Source: Illegals Aren't All Medically Screened Prior to Being Housed

HOUSTON, Texas–Breitbart Texas has learned that many of the illegal immigrants who continue to flood the U.S.-Mexico border are never medically screened before being housed in taxpayer subsidized shelters. 

Ramiro Cordero–a Border Patrol spokesman in El Paso, Texas–told Breitbart Texas that instead of administering thorough medical checks, “we ask a series of verbal questions. We talk to the people to determine if we need to take them for further medical care.”

He added, “We’re not medical providers.”

If Border Patrol agents determine, through verbal interactions, that a specific illegal immigrant is diseased, that migrant will be sent to a nearby hospital for proper care. If they are deemed to be healthy, they are sent via plane or bus to a federal housing unit. 

Cordero also mentioned that most of the migrants are being transported to El Paso from Texas’ Rio Grande Valley area via chartered commercial airliners. This has raised concerns that any U.S. citizen who flies on the aircraft afterwards could potentially face serious health risks. 

Consistent with Cordero’s claims, ABC News recently obtained an internal Department of Defense memo which stated that President Obama’s Health and Human Services Department has identified a medical “breakdown” at the border. The document claimed that two undocumented children were flown from Arizona to California, despite the fact that they each had a fever of over 100 degrees. 

Since the new year, myriad illnesses–including scabies, chicken pox, and tuberculosis (TB)–have been identified within the illegal immigrant population. 

Some illnesses, such as TB, are not easily identified without legitimate medical checks. “You can spend years without getting medical care for TB,”  Cordero pointed out. TB is usually found in the lungs and can be fatal. The infectious disease is typically spread through the air and contracted via sneezes or coughs. Several cases of the disease have already been identified within the illegal immigrant population–but the fear of TB’s potential to spread is ultimately heightened when infected individuals are released into the general U.S. population. 

Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet–an experienced physician and nationally recognized speaker–previously told Breitbart Texas, “Many people are trying to diminish the seriousness of this. They say, ‘We have these diseases in the U.S.’ Well yes, we do, but they’ve been well controlled, we have good hygiene, and most of our parents keep children home when they’re sick.”

Most of the foreigners are being kept in overcrowded facilities ridden with poor hygiene; this is the ideal condition for a viral outbreak, according to Vliet.

As the tidal wave of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border shows no signs of downsizing, it is unclear at this point how the Obama Administration will address the serious health threats that could accompany the new population. 

Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.