Border surge migrants bringing COVID to U.S. at elevated rates

Migrant families coming across the border are testing positive for the coronavirus at between three and ten times the rate of the U.S. population, according to a Washington Times survey of jurisdictions that are doing the testing. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told The Times that the families it is processing are between 5% and 10% positive. In Brownsville, Texas, the city says it is seeing a 12% positive rate. And in Harlingen, near Brownsville, the homeless shelter where families are being dropped off reported a group at 25% positive for COVID-19. That’s more than seven times the current positivity test rate for the U.S. public, which Johns Hopkins University’s tracker shows at 3.5%. Pastor Bill Reagan, who runs Loaves and Fishes, the Harlingen shelter, said they’re doing the best they can with the situation. “It would be best if Customs and Border Protection decides to release certain individuals into the United States that they thoroughly quarantine them for the 14 days and test them and only release those that rest negative,” he said. “But I also understand they’re overwhelmed.” Some of the families are being quarantined. A senior ICE official told The Times that those in its custody who test positive are able to be held in isolation, though he said they do try to get nonprofits to help take some of them. ICE is only able to take about 100 of those family members a day. Those on the ground in Texas say there are between 500 and 800 people coming across daily, and they are being farmed out to local shelters that don’t have the power to compel someone to stick around if they don’t want to. In Harlingen, migrants were dropped at Loaves and Fishes, the city’s homeless shelter. Mr. Reagan told The Washington Times they saw two groups, both last month. The first on Feb. 18 was 49 people, and it had a COVID positivity rate of 25%...MORE