For most of us, the flu season is inconvenient, but for people confined to immigrant detention centers it's scary. Children held in detention are 9 times more likely to die from the flu than the general pediatric population. With flu season well underway, we urgently need your help to get flu vaccinations to the people who need it most.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is blocking a group of doctors from offering the flu vaccine to children and families in detention.
Immigrant detention camps function like prisons: physically and emotionally stressed migrants are held in these overcrowded and unsanitary conditions, often for months on end. Without the flu vaccine, it's almost guaranteed that we'll see more outbreaks, putting more lives at risk.
No one in 2019 should be dying from the flu in these camps. Carlos' death could have been prevented. Send a message to DHS before the disease spreads even further.
This is a heartless way to punish people who are seeking safety in the United States. Let's be clear: our government put these people in camps simply because they are seeking asylum; they have not committed crimes. It doesn't have to be this way. Our organization, Doctors for Camp Closure, wants to offer the vaccine to people in a detention center in California at no cost to the government. All we need is permission to enter.
Join us in requesting permission to offer the flu vaccine to vulnerable children and families in migrant detention.
P.S. – If you're a physician, medical professional or medical student, please leave a comment indicating that when you sign.
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