Fox News Commentator Says Migrants Are Carrying Smallpox, a Disease Eradicated in 1980

‘They’re coming in with diseases such as smallpox and leprosy and TB [tuberculosis] that are going to infect our people in the United States.’

Tanya Basu
10.29.18 6:43 PM ET


As immigration opponents continue to froth over the caravan making its way from Central America toward the United States, some are floating the idea that asylum-seekers will bring disease with them—including one that was wiped out nearly 40 years ago.

The right-wing magazine The New American ran a story over the weekend headlined: “Will Migrant Caravan Kill Your Child—With Disease?”

“What about diseases?” Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Monday. Later, Fox News contributor Sidney Powell suggested that the current outbreak of acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) affecting children was because of migrants—prompting host Lou Dobbs to correct her on air.

And former immigration agent David Ward, also appearing on Fox, cited a disease that doesn't actually exist anymore.

“We have these individuals coming in from all over the world that have some of the most extreme medical care in the world,” Ward said. “And they're coming in with diseases such as smallpox and leprosy and TB [tuberculosis] that are going to infect our people in the United States.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-commentator-says-migrants-are-carrying-smallpox-a-disease-eradicated-in-1980