U.S. Denies Vaccines for Immigrants

JONATHAN LE LE HOURS Staff Writer

Recently, three children have died from the flu under U.S. immigration custody. U.S. customs now, on top of detaining children and separating them from their parents, also refuses the treatment of sick migrant children. These deaths could have been prevented if the children were given the proper medical care by the doctors who wanted to provide them with a flu vaccine. The U.S. immigration’s denial of vaccines to the detained migrant children is unjust and wrong. It is vividly shown that their actions did not have to lead to the deaths of the three detained, no deceased, innocent migrant children. 

To address how unjust actions by U.S. immigration was, people have to witness the extent to which the actions may have been deemed justifiable. They stated that the migrants are supposed to only be retained for a short period of time. This, however, does not justify their decision on denying the detained children access to the flu vaccine. 

The group of doctors who worked under an organization called Doctors for Camp Closure, and were clearly aware of the dangers of the flu, protested against denying the vaccine. Symptoms of influenza can include death, and if immigration was aware of this, their actions were completely wrong. Even if children are only supposed to be in custody for a short time, they still deserve to be protected from harm. If they are in the custody of the United States government, then it is the government’s responsibility to protect them and its duty to take responsibility for a deadly error. 

The restraint of doctors from being able to vaccinate migrant children is also a violation of human rights. It is already shown how vaccination is important to stop the flu from spreading and to help create immunity. However, the children under U.S. custody are most likely to be at risk to the flu, especially during this time of the season. Annually, there are usually thousands of deaths related to the flu, especially among vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly. 

The government’s action not only violated the basic idea of human rights, but also came to the extent to where it led to the death of three children. 

These deaths could have been easily avoided if doctors were just allowed access to vaccinate the children. Another way to prevent the tragic deaths of three children would be to not detain them in the first place.