At the nation’s borders, federal workers keep the country safe in many ways: Some investigate sick passengers. Some examine animals for dangerous pathogens. And some inspect plants for infestations that could spread in this country.
Late last week, the Trump administration dispatched hundreds of those federal employees with the same message that colleagues at other agencies received: Their services were no longer needed.
The absence of these federal officers at the borders leaves Americans vulnerable to pathogens carried by plants, animals and people, experts warned.
The firings come even as the Trump administration is said to be readying plans to turn back migrants on the grounds that they might bring diseases like tuberculosis and measles into the country.
“Screening for communicable diseases at ports of entry is an important role of public health in order to prevent communicable diseases from entering our country,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease physician at Emory University.
“Not having public health employees to do this job is concerning and makes us less safe,” he added.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that every day, nearly 30,000 planes travel in and out of the country. In 2019, more than 400 million travelers arrived via more than 300 ports of entry. About half of those people crossed the border between the United States and Mexico.