05 OCT 2021
Immigration and COVID-19: Republicans Continue to Scapegoat Immigrants and Drive False, Racist Narratives
This week, Immigration Hub will expose the five most egregious and pervasive myths about immigration. Today, we debunk the Republican and right-wing myth that immigrants drive spikes in COVID-19.
Washington, DC — Republicans will try anything and everything to distract from their own failed policies to combat the pandemic, including obstructing immigration reforms by relying on racist fearmongering, lies and political theater that target and blame immigrants for a rise in cases.
MYTH: Immigrants Are Responsible for Spreading COVID-19.
False narratives perpetuated by elected GOP members of Congress, candidates and the official Republican Party include:
@Miller_Congress: “The Biden-Harris Democrats have decided to open our southern border for any foreign national to cross with no vetting, no testing, and no end in sight. #ImpeachBiden.”
@laurenboebert: “If Democrats truly wanted to “slow the spread” of COVID-19, our Southern Border would not be processing over 200,000 illegals every month.”
@Lancegooden: “Reminder: The Biden Administration is letting Covid-positive illegal immigrants into our country every single day.”
@NRCC: “Biden won't require illegal immigrants crossing into the US to receive a COVID vaccine despite issuing a mandate for Americans. The COVID positivity rate among illegal border crossers in the Rio Grande Valley surpassed 16% some weeks. #BidenBorderCrisis”
@barrforcongress: Biden imposes mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for hard-working, taxpaying Kentuckians. However, House Dems won’t require negative COVID-19 tests for illegal immigrants before releasing them into our country!
FACT: Migrants are absolutely not the driver of COVID-19 cases in the United States.Republicans are falsely blaming migrants for the spread of COVID-19 when, in reality, it is theirownfailedhealthpoliciesthat are contributing most to the spread of the disease. Not only is associating disease with foreign-born people a centuries-old racist trope, it is simply untrue.
On CNN’s State of the Union, Dr. Anthony Fauci said immigrants are absolutely not driving COVID-19 and expelling them is not the solution:
DR. FAUCI: [I]f you just look at the data and look at the people who have gotten infected, look at the people who are in the hospital, look at the people who've died, this is not driven by immigrants. This is a problem within our country... Certainly, immigrants can get infected, but they're not the driving force of this. Let's face reality here.
Independent fact-checking organizations have repeatedly disproved claims that migrants are fueling COVID-19 spikes. In reality, the surge can be attributed directly to Republican policies that reject mask mandates, vaccinations, social distancing and other guidance from public health experts.
PolitiFact busted Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s claim blaming migrants who tested positive for the coronavirus and instead cited a lack of masks as the cause of an increase in cases. It noted that no data supports Cruz’s claim, and in fact, non-profits, local officials and official data all show that the positivity rate for immigrants in Texas is lower than rates for the rest of the state.
Politifact also negated Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ claims that Biden’s immigration policies have "imported more virus from around the world by having a wide-open southern border." DeSantis has since filed a superfluous lawsuit against the Biden Administration and issued an Executive Order that vilifies migrants and politicizes the pandemic rather than protect Floridians. What the data actually shows is that hotspots in Florida have low vaccination rates.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott has shunned masked mandates turning his efforts on blaming migrants and unlawfully detaining them, an action recently blocked by the district courts.
FactCheck.org determined the Biden Administration has maintained COVID-19 protocols at the border, including testing, quarantine, and monitoring for symptoms.
Contrary to Republican claims, most migrants who test positive are released to non-profits that place them in quarantine before they can move elsewhere.
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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.