Sunday, October 18, 2009

H1N1 is under orders to Spare the Undocumented.


When the latest efforts to reform the US health care system were being formulated very few, if any, expected the issue of undocumented immigrants to play a major role. Well, welcome to American politics 101 where the fear of alienating some voters leads to the adoption of hybrid positions that are impossible to explain. What better illustration of the above than the fact that both sides of the aisle are willing to see the US withhold offering vaccination against swine flu to undocumented population.

I was flabbergasted when I watched our president, Barak Obama, a Peace Nobel laureate nonetheless, get himself tied up in knots when he was attempting to explain the administrations policy regarding the H1N1 flu shot. He tried to explain with a straight face that the US must consider making an exception in this case since the children of the illegal immigrants will inevitably get in contact with our own toddlers.

Yes, you heard it right, we should inoculate undocumented children, not because the vaccine could spare them from catching influenza and possibly death but we should allow them to get vaccinated only because not to do so might infect our precious children. To make things even worse, no one has raised an objection to this monstrosity of a policy.
I have a better solution Mr. President, maybe we should make it illegal for these children to be seen within say thirty feet of a legal US resident. That way we will not have to worry about providing this expensive service of vaccination when the annual deficit is only 1.4 trillion dollars. You know what they say, every penny counts.

And what about the parents of these children? If they are not permitted to get the vaccine then is it acceptable to have them suffer the ill effects of the virus that they might transmit to their children who are not in contact with other US kids? If a sizable number of the illegal population gets sick then what happens to the various businesses that depend on their cheap uninsured labour?

Oh, the webs that we weave when we try to justify the unjustifiable.

8 comments:

  1. I honestly cannot even believe what I am reading. Since when did it become okay to disregard the undocumented when it comes to something that could possibly be a hazard to their health. Although some immigrants may be here in the United States illegally, this does not make them any more inhuman than us. They are people just like us and should be entitled to any type of vaccination that may protect them from the deadly H1N1 virus. I also do not believe that this a well thought out plan considering, as you said, that these immigrant live amongst us and can easily pass on any type of virus to those that they are around. It is amazing that a plan like this was even suggested. I hope that this is not what will happen and that this H1N1 vaccination will be open to all regardless of their status in our country; the supposed melting pot and land of the free.

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  2. President Obama seriously considered not allowing undocumented individuals to be vaccinated?! For starters, swine flu was a foreign disease, foreign meaning brought in from outside the United States. Considering that fact, visitors, immigrants, etc should all be vaccinated if that is true. Secondly, everyone is in contact with numerous and various people throughout their daily busy lives and most people do not go around asking people if they are undocumented or immigrants, so why should doctors who vaccinate to protect the public health? In order to control this epidemic, all measures must be taken. To seggrogate individuals because of their status and not prioritiing their health is inhumane and unthinkable!

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  3. The government doesn't plan to provide free inoculation to all of America at this point from what I understand. At our school vacination event for example, students were charged 30 dollars for the vacine while Unversity staff were fprovided free vacines through their insurance program. Obviously if there are going to be free inoculations for American citizens there should also be free vacines for the undocumented. However, since health care is currently viewed, wrongly viewed in my opinion, as a privledge and not a right in our society we must first be asking why there aren't free vacinces for all. If children, immigrants, aduls, citizens, women and men can all get this virus, why would the United States not provide it and protect its citizens?---VINNIE

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  4. I am five hundred percent flabbergasted at the fact that our president could even think to approve such a plan. The illegals are by any means any less of a person than any legal immigrants. They deserve to have such a vaccination provided just because it is the right thing to do on behalf of our country. I can't even write about my disgrace with how this country is treating the people who contribute so much to this nation. It is the illegals who hold many jobs out here and are in constant contact with the "legal" citizens, whether its just walking by in a store or working in the same biulding. Everyone has contact wtih an immigrant AT LEAST once or more times a day. It would be ridiculous to bring back segregation in order to prevent something which could easily could be prevented without this much criticism. - Justyna Sokol

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  5. After reading about what President Obama's reasoning for allowing the children of the undocumented only because they will inevitably come in contact with the children of US citizens is nothing short of ridiculous. To discriminate against a certain group of people like President Obama has done is unacceptable. The children of the undocumented should be allowed to have access to the H1N1 vaccine to not only prevent them from becoming ill with something that could possibly kill them, but also preventing the illness from spreading. -Jim

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  6. The USA is giving away more stuff! Jump, run, swim over the boarder before the US citizens use all the vaccine first.
    Again if we must include all illegal citizens, for whatever reason!! I am not inhuman, but for whatever liberal reason we want to include that all illegal's must receive certain benefits (vaccines, health insurance, emergency services). I am not stating I am against or for this liberal view that everyone is human. WHO ARE THE ILLEGALS? Those that are here NOW or those that are here now and anyone who can get here? Border Patrol better get those Ford F-150 SVT Raptors sooner! http://www.egmcartech.com/2009/08/07/us-border-patrol-conceding-buying-10-ford-f-150-svt-raptors/
    Pedro when did you get here? Before or after Obama said it was ok, (again for whatever reason) that you can get the vaccine as well. Are we the USA or USAM (United States of America and Mexico). Do you see the problem I have here? Should we just set up a vaccine table at the border ?
    At least we don't have to worry aboot them Canadians Aaa they got HealthTaxCare all you have to do is wait in line for a day and you get the vaccine for free. -- Bobby S.

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  7. Bobby,
    I humbly submit that nativist logic was wrong before that it is wrong know and that it will be wrong in the future:-)
    Bobby, as you well recall, I do not expect any student to agree with me and so I welcome a dialogue. Actually I look forward to it because it might help explain the positions of the parties to their adversaries. Please do not feel inhibited and state your case.
    Now that this introduction is out of the way do you honestly think , for a second, that paople will take the risk to trek into a country illegally in order to get a $2 vaccine? You cannot be serious, can you?

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  8. Even if these immigrants are "illegal" they should still have the opportunity to protect themselves from a virus we KNOW could be fatal. I am completely surprised that Obama even stated something to this effect, I believe he has many people provoking him to make statements such as this, but nevertheless, these people are humans. Of course the "undocumented" children will come in contact with U.S. children as will any other citizen or non-citizen will encounter. The fact is that everyone should have the right not the "privelege" to receive this vaccination for swine flu.

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