Indian Migrant Tests Positive for Coronavirus After Illegally Crossing Border into California

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials report that an illegal alien from India tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) after he illegally crossed the border with a group of Mexican nationals.

CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan reported that Border Patrol agents patrolling near Calexico, California, apprehended a group of three Mexican nationals and an Indian national after they illegally crossed the border from Mexico. Border Patrol agents quickly returned the Mexican nationals to their home country under anti-coronavirus policies.

“On Thursday, April 23, a U.S. Border Patrol agent apprehended three Mexican nationals and one Indian national suspected of having illegally crossed the border along the U.S.-Mexico border near Calexico, California. The three Mexican nationals were rapidly returned to Mexico under Title 42 USC 265, and the Indian national was transported to a USBP facility for processing,” Morgan said in a written statement on Monday.

After the initial processing of the Indian national, officials referred the man for medical evaluation after he displayed flu-like symptoms, CBP officials reported. Medical staff tested the 31-year-old man for the coronavirus and the test came back positive for COVID-19.

“The potential for the introduction and spread of COVID-19 in CBP stations and processing centers presents a danger to migrants, our frontline agents and officers, and the American people. Our agents and officers continue to protect our country from this invisible enemy, risking their own lives for the health of our nation,” Commissionre Morgan explained. “This is precisely the reason the CDC has given CBP the authority to rapidly return individuals that could potentially be infected with COVID-19.”

“Can you imagine if we were navigating this pandemic during this time last year, when we had more than 20,000 migrants in our custody?” the commissioner continued. “It would have overwhelmed our processing centers and stations, and crippled the healthcare system along the border.”

CBP officials turned the Indian illegal alien over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The migrant will be treated based upon medical recommendations.

CBP officials notified Mexican authorities about the positive coronavirus patient incident. Contact tracing to determined those he may have been in contact with.

During the human smuggling process from South Asia, migrants are frequently moved through multiple countries and kept in numerous stash houses along the weeks-long journey to the U.S. southern border, Border Patrol officials repeatedly told Breitbart Texas in interviews.

CBP officials report this is the first person in CBP or Border Patrol custody to test positive for COVID-19.