Cotton, Greene Slam Biden for Causing 'Superspreader' After Migrants Released Into U.S. Test Positive
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) speaks during U.S. Attorney General nominee Merrick Garland's confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on February 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. Demetrius Freeman-Pool/Getty Images

Republican lawmakers Sen. Tom Cotton and Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene have criticized President Joe Biden for causing a "superspreader" event after 108 migrants released into the United States tested positive for COVID-19 since January.

"President Biden's border crisis is a superspreader event," Tom Cotton tweeted as reported by Fox News.

Greene also scrutinized the move saying that Biden is treating America just like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo treated nursing homes. The Republican lawmaker added an #ImpeachBiden in her tweet.

Tom Cotton further noted that the Democratic Party has always been lax in national security when it comes to China, according to The Daily Wire report. Tom Cotton has been criticizing Biden even before the latter became a president.

Migrants Testing Positive on COVID-19

A spokesman for Brownsville, Texas on the U.S.-Mexico border said the 108 positives represent 6.3 percent of the number of total migrants who have been rapid-tested at the city's main bus station, where the Border Patrol is releasing the migrants.

Rapid testing of the individuals started there on Jan. 25, according to spokesman Felipe Romero. White House sources told Fox News that they know that some migrants who test positive may continue to travel. However, federal guidance encourages them to isolate themselves.

Miriam Izaguirre, a 35-year-old asylum-seeker from Honduras crossing the border with her young son, has turned herself in to the authorities a few hours after being released. She took a rapid test for COVID-19 at the Brownsville bus station, and officials told her that her test came out positive.

According to an NBC News report, other migrant families who had also tested positive for COVID-19 were waiting to go to other destinations such as North Carolina, Maryland, and New Jersey. After the Border Patrol releases migrant families, Brownsville's city administered the said rapid tests at the bus station.

Romero said several NGOs are providing resources to a positive case, adding that there are organizations that help with quarantine, which can either be a shelter or a hotel.

Eva Orellana from Honduras, who also tested positive for COVID-19, said she was going to take the bus to North Carolina with her three-year-old daughter. On the way there, Orellana noted that they were wearing their masks all the time and washing their hands and didn't feel anything.

Those who tested positive and spoke to Noticias Telemundo Investiga said they did not have any document stating their COVID-19 results. They said station workers only told them about the result after the test was done and asked them to wait in a different waiting area than the rest of the migrant families if the test turns out to be positive.

The CBP said their personnel conduct initial inspections for COVID-19 symptoms and then consult the onsite medical personnel, local health systems, or the CDC.

The agency noted that suspected COVID-19 cases are immediately referred to local health systems for appropriate diagnosis, testing, and treatment.

Meanwhile, more than 30,000 refugees and migrants from different regions around the world participated in a first survey assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental and physical health.

They were asked to grade and impact on a scale from 0 to 10, being the extreme. The average impact assessment, according to a World Health Organization study, was at 7.5.

"Refugees and migrants live and work in often-harsh conditions with inadequate access to health, housing, water, sanitation and other basic services," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said in a statement.