Americans In Border Town Want Washington To Address Dire Public Health Threats — That Have Nothing To Do With Migrants
Mexico has long treated the New River as a drain rather than a river, discharging raw, untreated sewage directly into the water. Americans in the California border town of Calexico are paying the price. Meanwhile, ICE confirms that seven detainees in a U.S. facility have been diagnosed with mumps.
The New York Times:
‘Pit Of Infection’: A Border Town’s Crisis Has Nothing To Do With Migrants
For generations, residents of the Southern California border town of Calexico watched with trepidation as their river turned into a cesspool, contaminated by the booming human and industrial development on the other side of the border in Mexico. Noxious sewage filled with feces, industrial chemicals and other raw waste regularly comes in through the New River, which flows from Mexico’s Mexicali Valley and through Calexico, leaving neighborhoods along the waterway engulfed in pungent fumes. (Del Real, 2/9)
Reuters:
Seven Mumps Cases Confirmed At Houston ICE Detention Facility
Seven adult detainees at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Houston have been diagnosed with mumps, but the contagious disease is contained, the city's health department said on Saturday. "Since these individuals were isolated inside the facility during the period they were infectious, we do not anticipate these cases posing a threat to the community," Dr. David Persse, Houston's local health authority and emergency medical services medical director, said in a statement. ICE's Houston Contract Detention Facility houses approximately 950-1,000 adults. (2/9)
