{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/tuberville-lee-marshall-slam-dhs-for-tuberculosis-surge-in-u-s-as-a-result-of-open-southern-border/", "Tuberville, Lee, Marshall, Slam DHS for Tuberculosis Surge in U.S. as a Result of Open Southern Border", "2024-11-01", "2024", "2024-11", "Republican", "Senate", "AL", "Tommy Tuberville", "T000278", "www.tuberville.senate.gov", "tuberville", "https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/press-releases/", "scraper", "\u201cThere are many laws on the books to combat illegal immigration and its harmful effects, and it is past time for this administration to use them.\u201d\n\nWASHINGTON \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) in demanding answers from U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as to how the department plans to address the surge in tuberculosis (TB) from illegal aliens being released into the U.S.\n\nIn a letter to Secretary Mayorkas, the senators admonished his management of the worst border crisis in U.S. history, which has put the lives and property of Americans at risk of harm. They also demand answers, by November 13, 2024, on whether the department is releasing aliens with TB, and what measures are being taken to prevent TB from spreading.\n\n\u201cFor the past 4 years, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have willfully opened our borders, allowing millions of criminals, murderers, drug dealers, and terrorists to flood into our country unchecked,\u201d said Senator Tuberville. \u201cAs a result, innocent Americans like Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray have been brutally murdered by illegal aliens. But it doesn\u2019t stop there \u2013 there have been no health screenings of these populations. Since the creation of the administration\u2019s illegal parole programs, we have seen a 16% rise in Tuberculosis cases between 2022 and 2023 alone. How many more Americans have to needlessly lose their lives before the Biden-Harris administration will take the open border seriously? I join my Republican colleagues in calling on Secretary Mayorkas, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris to secure the border and save American lives.\u201d\n\nFull text of the letter can be found here and below.\n\nOctober 30th, 2024\n\nThe Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas\n\nSecretary\n\nU.S. Department of Homeland Security\n\nWashington, D.C. 20528\n\nSecretary Mayorkas,\n\nYour mismanagement of the border continues to jeopardize the health and safety of American citizens. Due to your negligence and refusal to enforce our current laws, tuberculosis (TB) is rapidly spreading through the millions of unscreened illegal immigrants released into the interior of the United States putting American lives and health at severe risk.\n\nWhile the United States previously had one of the lowest TB rates globally, steadily declining for 27 years, your appointment as the Secretary of Homeland Security in February 2021 ushered in a new era. Since then, TB case counts have continuously increased each year with a 16% increase from 2022 to 2023 alone. It is well-documented by academics and government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes for Health (NIH) that foreign-born persons represent the greatest threat for the spread of TB, some of whom come from countries with TB rates as high as 60 times the U.S. rates.\n\nDespite this increasing human health risk, you have turned what was once border security into a rubber-stamp for any individual seeking access to the interior. Since the start of Fiscal Year 2021, Customs and Border Protection recorded nearly 11 million inadmissible encounters and roughly two million known \u201cgotaways\u201d who evaded Border Patrol agents with unknown numbers of illegal aliens evading detection altogether. Rather than requiring immigrants to apply for status prior to arriving at the border, and undergo health screenings, your policies encourage immigrants to unlawfully enter the interior with no meaningful processing, screening, or security analysis. As reported by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), the top seven nationalities encountered by CBP\u2014Mexico, Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, Cuba, Colombia, and Haiti\u2014all have significantly higher TB case rates than the U.S. There can be no doubt that your administration\u2019s failure to enforce the law is the cause for the dramatic and dangerous rise of TB in the U.S.\n\nWhile unscreened illegal immigrants are bringing TB into the U.S., they are not the only ones suffering from it. As the CDC noted on March 24, 2024, \u201cNational [TB] case counts increased among all age groups and among both U.S.-born and non-U.S.-born persons\u201d [emphasis added]. Given TB\u2019s status as one of the world\u2019s leading airborne infectious diseases, it is no wonder that a frightening number of Americans are contracting it. While FAIR correctly details in its report how border counties are bearing the brunt of the TB influx, it is abundantly clear that Americans across the U.S. are feeling the harmful effects of open border policies. The Biden Harris Administration\u2019s border crisis has made every town in America a border town. Just this month, an illegal Chinese immigrant in Louisiana exposed hundreds of individuals in the U.S. to a rare and aggressive form of TB with high mortality rates.\n\nThere are many laws on the books to combat illegal immigration and its harmful effects, and it is past time for this administration to use them. In addition to closing the border, detaining and deporting inadmissible aliens, and working with the administration to re-instate the Remain-in-Mexico policy, we request that you reinstate Title 42 expulsion authority for this dangerous communicable disease. It is your duty to protect the health and safety of the American people.\n\nGiven the severity and time-sensitive nature of this crisis, please provide detailed responses to the following inquiries no later than November 13, 2024:\n\nDoes DHS recognize the correlation between increased illegal immigration to the U.S. from countries with high TB rates and the increase in TB cases in the U.S., including among U.S.-born persons?\n\nHas DHS taken any meaningful steps to mitigate the spread of TB from illegal immigrants entering the country from high-rate countries? If yes, please explain.\n\nDoes DHS recognize the increase in tuberculosis cases as a public health crisis?\n\nHas any DHS employee consulted with the White House on this issue?\n\nSince January 20th, 2021, how many illegal immigrants has DHS screened for TB or referred to HHS for screening?\n\nAre illegal immigrants screened for active and latent TB upon transfer to a detention facility?\n\nIf an illegal immigrant tests positive for either form of TB, what are the quarantine/removal protocols to protect border patrol agents and other detainees from infection?\n\nHas DHS knowingly released or paroled illegal immigrants into the U.S. with an active or latent TB infection?\n\nDoes DHS have a contingency plan to address the rising number of TB-positive illegal immigrants entering the U.S. and prevent the spread to Americans?\n\nIf so, please explain.\n\nDoes this plan include coordination with the CDC and HHS to strengthen screening and testing protocols for TB-positive illegal immigrants?\n\nDoes this plan include using Title 42 expulsion authority under 8 U.S.C. \u00a71182 to render immigrants with TB inadmissible?\n\nHave you discussed this issue with HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra?\n\nIf so, did the discussion include using Title 42 authority to declare TB a communicable disease of public health significance, thereby rendering immigrants with TB inadmissible?\n\nIf not, why not?\n\nHave you discussed this issue with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy?\n\nIf so, did the discussion include using Title 42 expulsion authority to suspend entry for immigrants with TB?\n\nIf not, why not?\n\nSincerely,\n\nMORE:\n\nICYMI: Tuberville Reacts to Kamala Harris\u2019 Failure to Answer for Failed Border Policies\n\nICYMI: Tuberville Joins Fox Business to Discuss Biden\u2019s Border Crisis\n\nTuberville Forces Vote on Border Safety and Security Act\n\nTuberville Honors Border Crisis Victims\n\nTuberville: \u201cOur Priority Should Be Securing Our Border, Not A War In Eastern Europe\u201d\n\nTuberville Stands With Texas on Border Security\n\nTuberville: Not One Dime For Ukraine Until The Border is Secure\n\nU.S. Senators Katie Britt, Tommy Tuberville, Bill Hagerty Hold DOJ Accountable for Failure to Prosecute Wrongful Voter Registration by Illegal Border Crossers\n\nTuberville Questions Pentagon Nominees On Defense Spending, Border Wall Sales\n\nTuberville Introduces Amendment to Secure the Border and Stop the Flow of Deadly Fentanyl\n\nTuberville Demands Biden Admin Protect Unaccompanied Children at the Border From Traffickers, Criminals\n\nTuberville Continues Fight to Secure Southern Border\n\nTuberville Demands Answers from DHS Regarding Chinese Nationals and Suspected Terrorists Exploiting the Open Southern Border\n\nTuberville, Colleagues Introduce Secure the Border Act of 2023\n\nTuberville, Armed Services Republicans Call for Halt to Border Wall Materials Auctions\n\nTuberville, Colleagues Introduce Resolution to Strike Down Dangerous Biden Border Policy\n\nTuberville, Carter Reintroduce Empowering Law Enforcement Act as Border Crisis Intensifies\n\nSenator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans\u2019 Affairs, and HELP Committees.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:02:12Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.tuberville.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/tuberville-lee-marshall-slam-dhs-for-tuberculosis-surge-in-u-s-as-a-result-of-open-southern-border/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8744229562580585, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}