Applying for an American Asylum will take months or even years before the U.S. government decides whether to approve or deny their application. Granted that these migrants are still waiting for the decision, most of them stay at the entry ports and the borders with nothing in their hands, including medicine.

Days ago, Latin Post reported about thousands of migrants who stayed in Ciudad Juarez, and other border cities, while waiting for the approval of their asylum application. Most of these migrants are in groups that include children. They sleep in tents near the border and have to endure the fluctuating temperature that can lead to the flu and other sicknesses.

Recently, a group of doctors who were giving flu vaccines to detained immigrants, were arrested by the federal authorities. In an article published in REMEZCLA, it was reported that a group of doctors protested outside Border Patrol in San Diego following the arrests of their peers.

Doctors for Camp Closure is a group created by physicians who opposed the detention of immigrants with no access to medicine that they need. They said that several of their fellow medical practitioners were apprehended because they gave flu vaccines to immigrants.

The group said in a separate statement, "We are licensed medical doctors and practitioners with decades of experience. The Trump administration has left us with no choice but to show up at the San Diego Border Patrol Headquarters and beg to provide life-saving medical care for these children. We have already written to immigration officials and tried to set up meetings with them as well but they are ignoring us and children's lives are at risk as a result. We will not stand down," The main concern of the physicians is the health status of the children because this is the time of the year were flu rises significantly. If this is not treated, this will cause death.

It was also written in the published article in Remezcla that last month the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had been ignoring the recommendation to vaccinate immigrants and asylum seekers against flu virus for nearly a year from Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDCP). 

The request to vaccinate the immigrants and asylum seekers were even intensified following the death of children ages 2, 6, and 12 because of influenza while in the federal custody. A video was also uploaded by ProPublica showing a Guatemalan teenager who died on a concrete floor inside his detention cell in May because of sickness. It was also discovered that agents were aware of his fever, but instead of granting the recommendation, they chose not to provide the healthcare that the teenager needed.

According to the Customs and Border Protection, the reason why they did not accept the recommendation of a group of doctors was because it does not make sense for law enforcement to provide medical care. Customs believed that they will receive healthcare once the immigrants are transferred to other facilities. A process that can take several days or even weeks. 

Meanwhile, the Doctors for Camp Closure posted on their Facebook account that the doctors who were arrested on Tuesday are safe. However, they are more concerned about children who have influenza and they hope that following the demonstration and arrest of their fellow doctors, they will be allowed to give doses of influenza vaccines with any costs to the U.S. government and its agencies.

Dr. Marie DeLuca, once of the founders of the group, from New York said that they hope to stop immigrants and asylum-seekers from suffering and dying. Moreover, several Democratic leaders have offered support following the demonstration of the physicians. And the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) called on the Trump administration to provide flu vaccines and improve medical healthcare among the immigrants and asylum seekers staying in both the detention center or ports of entries.