Well on my way to work this morning I tuned into one of the Local right wing radio hacks and his talking point was this. The real reason we should hate illegals is because the are bringing disease to this country. I was thinking isn't this what the "White Man" is known for, killing people with our diseases? Anyhoo, its evolution baby. Anythoughts?

did he actually use the word hate?

it's evolution, but aren't people coming from countries where there isn't much health care and bad living conditions likely to carry more disease than people carry in our country?

by the way, in no way am i supporting the hate of immigrants. it's an interesting argument, though.

That is soooooo 100 years ago. The real reason we should deny illegal entry is because it punishes those who work and sacrifice for decades to legally immigrate.

I agree that something must be done with illegal aliens. I think a viable solution (although not a cure) is to allow temporary entrance to people that want to work in the US. This country was built on immigrants... absolutely. But now that our country is established, with laws and structure, everyone must go through a process to become a citizen and to work and live here. I don't think it's right to use people who are desperate for work, so that Mr. Millionaire can have his water feature done for half the cost. I also think it's important to know who's coming into the country and why. I don't think we should be buttoning up our borders and barring entry to all. But I certainly feel that people are putting themselves in serious danger but trying to jump across the borders undetected. Not to mention our "national security" is compromised as well.

I was paraphrasing, I dont think the word was hate, it was "fear", I took editorial liberties. Yes but do we think that this is true or likely? I mean its possible but I would think we have enough doctors and technologies that this really isn't a factor. Is it just fear mongering?

To say that illegal immigrants spread disease is fear mongering, yes. It's not completely untrue, I'm sure. But as soon as there is one or two occurances, someone will take it and blow it way out of proportion to prove their own point.

What percentage of illegal immigrants come from anywhere other than Mexico? I'm sure it isn't large. I wasn't aware Hispanics were any more disease carriers than other illegals.

I'm not sure... Cuba? Wasn't Elian an illegal immigrant? I'm seriously not sure.

Also, I feel like anyone that comes into the US has a chance of introducing a new disease. Remember SARS? I think someone might make the point that if a country has a dilapidated health care system, people from that country may be more likely to have diseases that are considered "rare" in the US. Maybe? I don't know...

It's getting higher all the time:

Four fold increase this year from Brazil:

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/08/25/MTFH98533_2005-08-25_12-16-26_EIC543356.html

Other Than Mexicans:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=24987

Thanks for the links. I am completely naive when it comes to this issue.

I'm more concerned with the plague carrying prairie dogs, squirrels, rabbits and raccoons than the immigrants.

Worldnet daily is not even approaching an unbiased news source. There was a link on their front page that said "Rock legend shreds Cindy Sheehan 'peaceniks'". I was dying to see what "rock legend" they were speaking of. When I clicked the link, it turned out the "rock legend" was Pat Boone.

Pat Boone, neither a Rocker or a Legend, discuss amongst yourself

Of diseases that we don't see in the United States:

Rubella: is a problem for Hispanic mothers, but transmission is low if it happens at all b/c US children are immunized

Measles: gets imported occasionally from adoptions, but those are legal adoptions. The US doesn't require vaccinations prior to coming in.

I don't know of any other diseases not already circulating in the US that were brought in by immigrants. Hell, outbreaks are as common among white suburbanites who refuse to vaccinate as they are among Hispanic communities.

I think they are more concerned with TB and foreign strains of AIDS and Hepitietis (no idea how to spell that). Misguided health policies have built drug immunity in many LAtin American nations.

They are definately not a left-wing outlet (aka 'unbiased' ). That does not mean their information in factually inaccurate, just read through the spin.

We're not that worried about TB. There's a vaccine that the US doesn't even bother to use. AIDS and Hepatitis strains are much more likely to immerge (sp?) out of our own drug abusers.

I guess it is easier to read through their spin because it's so "out there".

I'm moderately concerned about TB. Not concerned at all about AIDS, if you get that, it's on you baby. What is of most concern is the price tag that comes with this. They come here with these diseases, and we can't turn them away from our hospitals.

Check out the price tag on this. It's staggering.

I don't think that the price tag is elevated too much by the fact that the people were immigrants (illegals, I assume we're all talking about). Most AIDS patients are not fortunate enough to actually be able to pay for their treatment anyway, whether citizens or not, so the price tag is a function of the disease and the spread of it among the impoverished, not of it being imported from other lands.