Over 100 migrants released by the United States Border Patrol in Texas since January have tested positive for COVID-19.
City officials in Brownsville, a Texas town near the border with Mexico, said 108 migrants have tested positive for the virus at the city’s main bus station. The number represents 6.3% of all migrants who have passed through the station after being released there by Border Patrol since rapid-testing started on Jan. 25.
A spokesperson for the city said officials do not have the authority to prevent migrants from traveling elsewhere in the country once released but that they are advising the migrants to quarantine and follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The White House is reportedly aware of instances in which migrants were allowed to continue traveling with a positive test, saying only that federal guidance advises them to self-isolate.
Brownsville officials are attempting to advise migrants who test positive to seek out facilities for shelter while they self-isolate, according to a Noticias Telemundo Investiga report. However, many migrants have opted to continue traveling farther into the country.
“On the way, we were wearing a mask all the time, gel, washing our hands,” said Eva Orellana, a migrant from Honduras who came to the U.S. with her 3-year-old daughter. “Really, I don’t feel anything.”
Orellana said she was taking the bus to North Carolina and had already purchased tickets.
Migrants were told of their positive test results by workers at the bus station, but employees for the bus company are not allowed to ask for proof of COVID-19 test results before passengers board.
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“Right now, we were tested for COVID, and they separated about eight of us because we were positive,” said Miriam Izaguirre, a migrant from Honduras en route to Houston. “We are waiting right now.”
