Health officials in the sanctuary city of Chicago, Illinois, have reported several cases of tuberculosis at migrant shelters.
Officials with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) revealed that there are “a small number of cases” of tuberculosis (TB) “among new arrivals in a few different shelters over the course of the response.”
A spokesperson with CDPH noted the high rates of TB in countries from which migrants are arriving in the United States:
It is important to note that an estimated 10-20% of residents of Central and South America have latent TB infection, which is asymptomatic and not transmissible to others, but does result in a positive TB test. For those who do have active cases of TB disease, CDPH assigns a nurse case manager to each individual and performs a contact tracing investigation. TB is curable with antibiotics and is not particularly infectious, typically requiring several hours or more of prolonged close contact between individuals to spread, but CDPH continues to take cases seriously in order to keep it contained. To date, CDPH has not confirmed any reports of TB that resulted from exposure to new arrivals in Chicago. [Emphasis added]
TB is not a novel or rarely seen illness in Chicago, as the Chicago Department of Public Health typically expects to see between 100-150 cases of tuberculosis in Chicago residents in an average year. We will continue to offer treatment to individuals as necessary and take the proper precautions to eliminate spread, but we do not consider this a matter presenting a substantial threat to the public. [Emphasis added]
CDPH officials did not divulge the exact number of TB cases among migrants or the location of the shelters where the TB cases originated.
Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez (D), who has lobbied to end the city’s sanctuary policy, blasted Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) and the city administration for ignoring the public health concerns that come with mass immigration.
“I have warned Chicago for months about what was already here,” Lopez wrote:
Performative politics and hurt feelings kept City Hall from avoiding the obvious looming disaster. Anyone who demanded action to protect our residents was called racist, xenophobic, and anti-immigrant by fringe politicians. [Emphasis added]
And now here we are: measles, now tuberculosis both “confirmed” in Chicago. Shame on every mouthpiece that worked so hard to keep this secret. [Emphasis added]
I don’t expect apologies or an enlightened response from the performative deniers: those folks have never let facts get in the way of their narrative. However, everyday Chicagoans MUST demand [Chicago Mayor] and his cronies take this seriously, demand American immunization standards for all asylum seekers and their children within [Chicago Public Schools], and stop muting the truth. [Emphasis added]
In March, a handful of migrants in Chicago tested positive for measles. In 2023, warnings spread as reports suggested that migrants were piling up at shelters with flu-like symptoms.
New York City, another sanctuary city that has taken in waves of migrants under President Joe Biden, has been struck with cases of TB as well as polio as a result.
The Biden administration has been reluctant to detail the number of migrants arriving at the nation’s borders with various illnesses and diseases that had long been nearly eradicated in the U.S. In 2023, though, a court-ordered report from the administration found that thousands of unaccompanied alien children had been released into the U.S. interior with inactive TB.
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