The White House seems to be trying to back away–at least publicly–from potential plans to admit Ebola-infected non-U.S. citizens into the United States for treatment.
Recently, I sent a troubling Judicial Watch report that the Obama administration was actively formulating a proposal to bring Ebola patients into the United States for treatment within the first days of diagnosis.
It is unclear who would bear the high costs of transporting and treating non-citizen Ebola patients. The plans reportedly include special waivers of laws and regulations that ban the admission of non-citizens with a communicable disease as dangerous as Ebola.
One source tells us that the Obama administration is keeping this plan secret from Congress. The source is concerned that the proposal is illegal, endangers the public health and welfare, and should require the approval of Congress.
We reported this exclusively on October 17. The media and Congress followed our lead and asked more questions. The Obama administration lied, despicably so, and said that our report was false. But other media confirmed our story. As we note in our Corruption Chronicles blog:
JW’s initial story also got Congress to get involved. Days after JW’s piece got published, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee fired off a letter to the secretaries of State and Homeland Security asking for details of the Ebola scheme and whether employees of their agencies had engaged in conversations regarding it. “Please provide me any and all written memos or other documentation written by employees of your Departments regarding the formulation of a plan to allow non-U.S. citizens infected with Ebola to enter the U.S. to receive medical treatment,” says the letter signed by the committee’s chair, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia.
Recently, several media outlets have confirmed JW’s story, attributing the information to an unclassified State Department report. It spells out a plan to rush foreigners into the U.S. for Ebola treatment, according to a British newspaper that links the actual four-page document. It would cost $300,000 to treat each patient and another $200,000 for transportation, the State Department memo shows. The newspaper cites the White House Press Secretary issuing a “qualified denial” last week, saying that it hasn’t happened so far and that he doesn’t know of any plans to do it. “Despite the existence of a written plan, the State Department denies that it has any intention of bringing Ebola-infected noncitizens to the U.S. for treatment,” the news article points out.
The State Department memo, authored by the deputy director of the office of international health and biodefense, Robert Sorenson, also says this: “The United States needs to show leadership and act as we are asking others to act by admitting certain non-citizens into the country for medical treatment for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) during the Ebola crisis.” In the aftermath of the document’s leak, senior administration officials have anonymously come forth to say there are “absolutely no plans” to transport foreign Ebola patients to be treated in the U.S. What should Americans believe?
I have zero confidence that this plan has been shelved, but at least it has been delayed for now. Judicial Watch’s report also explains Obama’s crazy opposition to efforts by governors to quarantine individuals believed to have been exposed to Ebola. It would certainly be more difficult to import Ebola-infected foreign nationals for swift treatment if states require 21-day quarantines to protect their citizens.
This administration is contemptuous of the concerns of citizens, experts, and our military. Judicial Watch’s investigative report did much good in that the administration may have a harder time putting citizens at risk by sneaking Ebola-infected foreign nationals here. Our educational efforts to inform people about what its government is up to pushed the Obama administration to disavow its own policy proposal.