Nearly 300 Refugees in Minnesota Diagnosed with Active TB



Records from the Minnesota Department of Health show that 296 refugees have been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) between 2010 and 2014. Of the 296 refugees, 71 refugees were diagnosed within just a year of their arrival to the United States.

The number of active TB cases among Minnesota’s refugee population is ten times higher than reported by any other state. Previously, Wisconsin topped the list by reporting 27 cases of active TB among refugees between in 2015. Minnesota taxpayers paid an estimated $5 million dollars in healthcare expenses to treat the 296 cases of active TB among refugees during this time period.

The total of refugees with active TB nationwide is likely to be much higher than reported. Currently, there are 468 known cases of refugees with active TB in the country, but 36 states have not submitted any data regarding the number of cases within their refugee populations. Additionally, the Minnesota Department of Health suggests that the state’s numbers are higher than others because, unlike many other states, Minnesota conducts additional health screening within 90-days of a refugee’s arrival.

Federal law prohibits refugee applicants with active infectious TB from entering the country. However, some refugees were able to enter the United States with the contagious disease by receiving a waiver by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for their admission. DHS has not made public the number of TB and other disease-related waivers it has issued in recent years.

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Content written by Federation for American Immigration Reform staff.

2 Comments

  1. avatar

    The problem with these diseases are not only the ones who are let in legally, but those who enter illegally. Illegal advocates always talk about when “your grandparents came here”, but it is not the same. Anyone with TB was automatically turned around at Ellis Island and sent back. And how predictable that the DHS has not released the number of waivers requested. This was supposed to be the “most open” administration ever and everything has had to be pried out of them through lawsuits.

    How ironic that this president was calling a few days ago for “truthiness tests” for the media. Uh yeah, the guy who said you can keep your doctor and your premiums will go down, even though numerous experts at the time said those things were not true. If his lips are moving he’s lying.

    He was lying again today when he was asked a question about the “quid quo pro” controversy. He dismissed it by saying “there are all these accounts”. No, there are no “accounts”. It’s official FBI documents released by the agency and it’s very clear. Patrick Kennedy, the State Dept official who used the term quid quo pro, offered enticements to the FBI to retroactively change the classification of a Hillary State Dept document from classified to unclassified.

    And the media is reading the Democratic talking points that “nothing happened” so no problem. But his words are proof of a bride, because that is what he attempted to do. By legal definition, it is not required that a person accept the bribe. The cops and FBI are always pulling stings in which individuals make offers of bribes and people go to jail. Any competent attorney can explain this, but again, the media will only give the Hillary campaign spin. A crime was committed and they are helping to cover it up.