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US Rejects Offer of Free Flu Shots for Detained Immigrants

Aline Barros

   WASHINGTON - As the flu season reaches its peak in December and
   January, the Trump administration has again rejected an offer by an
   American physicians group of free flu vaccinations for detained
   undocumented immigrants.

   Physicians from [1]Doctors for Camp Closure sent a letter to the
   Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offering a flu shot pilot program
   to detainees at a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility at no
   cost to the federal government.

   The CBP said this is not a new policy, that it has never been the
   agency's practice to administer vaccines to migrants.

   On Friday, the physicians group reaffirmed its commitment to vaccinate
   migrants.

   "We have the vaccinations and are ready to deliver them as soon as we
   receive permission, but have not been granted access by CBP or DHS,"
   said Marie DeLuca, an emergency physician from New York City who helped
   co-found Doctors for Camp Closure.

   "Individuals in CBP custody should generally not be held for longer
   than 72 hours in either CBP hold rooms or holding facilities," CBP
   spokesman Matthew Dyman wrote to VOA in an email. "Every effort is made
   to hold detainees for the least amount of time required for their
   processing, transfer, release or repatriation as appropriate and
   operationally feasible."

References

   1. http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/11/19/flu.clinic.request.letter.pdf

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