The “diseased” immigrant, a very old story
by digby
I have a piece up at Alternet today about the hideous new meme sweeping the right wing fever swamps that declared these little refugees to be “disease” carriers who threaten American children with diseases they imagine don’t already exist in our country (they do) along with the most mundane of childhood ailments. It’s especially nice that they don’t think we should treat these illnesses (we can’t afford it) but instead send them back over the border immediately as if they are a threat to the very air we breathe. If you want sickness, this is it:
The piece goes into the long history of this sort of thing, particularly on the US-Mexican border where we have a terrible record of abuse. For instance, did you know that the US government used Zyclon B? And that its use of it in the 1930s was an inspiration to certain people in Germany? It’s true. DDT as well. Read on for the details. It’s enough to make your hair stand on end.
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| Mexican contract workers undergo medical inspection before being sprayed with pesticides, ca. 1942. The disinfections along the U.S.-Mexico border continued until the late 1950s. |
It’s xenophobia, pure and simple.
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