U.S. Knew Man had Rare, Contagious Disease; Yawns as he Enters Border. "Department of Homeland Security," Indeed

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

New reports indicate that the U.S. government is to blame for an Atlanta man taking two transatlantic flights despite having a rare, potentially deadly type of tuberculosis that is highly resistant to treatment. The man – under the first federal quarantine in decades – says CDC officials knew he had the disease and even put him on a no-fly list, yet he was still able to leave and return to the United States.

The unidentified patient, who had been making regular hospital visits for treatment, told officials he would be traveling to Europe for his wedding but was never told not to go. Only when he was on his honeymoon in Rome was he instructed not to return to America and that he was on a no-fly list. He was also ordered to surrender to Italian health authorities for indefinite isolation and treatment. Fearful of the quality of medical care in a foreign nation, the man opted to fly to Canada and drive into America.

He was never stopped despite several passport checks.

How could a man with a deadly and contagious disease enter this country when we knew exactly who he was? The whole point of the Homeland Security Department (DHS) was to integrate various government agencies to fulfil its mission to "protect against and respond to threats and hazards to the nation." If we can't intercept a known pestilent citizen using his real name and passport, how are we supposed to stop foreign terrorists who are actually trying to be elusive?

Of course, terrorism and national security have never been the real focus of DHS. A study released just this week found that only 12 of the 814,073 people charged by the Department in immigration courts actually faced charges of terrorism. That's 0.0015 percent. The overwhelming majority of cases involved common immigration violations, such as overstaying a student visa.

"The DHS claims it is focused on terrorism. Well that's just not true," said a spokesman for the group conducting the study. "Either there's no terrorism, or they're terrible at catching them."

The concept of the Department of Homeland Security worked great in theory, but it's kind of useless when the administration overseeing it is more concerned with keeping out Hispanics looking for jobs than real terrorists and folks with deadly, communicable diseases. And wasn't it DHS who flew John Mark Karr back to America via first class after he falsely confessed to murdering JonBenet Ramsey? That was hardly national security, either.

While DHS is busy building walls on the southern border and arresting Mexicans, we are just waiting for DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff to personally stamp Osama bin Laden's passport after he contracts Ebola and waltzes into one of our neglected Canadian crossings.

Bush would probably give Chertoff a medal afterwards, just like he did the disgraced general responsible for Abu Ghraib. 

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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