Amid calls for a total ban on travel from Ebola-affected countries, the Department of Homeland Security today announced it would enforce limited Ebola travel restrictions that will direct travelers from those countries through any of five U.S. airports where Ebola screening occurs.
According to a statement by DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson:
Today, as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s ongoing response to prevent the spread of Ebola to the United States, we are announcing travel restrictions in the form of additional screening and protective measures at our ports of entry for travelers from the three West African Ebola-affected countries. These new measures will go into effect tomorrow.
Last week, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DHS implemented enhanced screening measures at five airports around the country – New York’s JFK, Newark, Dulles, Atlanta and Chicago. Passengers flying into one of these airports from flights originating in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea are subject to secondary screening and added protocols, including having their temperature taken, before they can be admitted into the United States. These airports account for about 94 percent of travelers flying to the United States from these countries. At present there are no direct, non-stop commercial flights from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea to any airport in the United States.
Today, I am announcing that all passengers arriving in the United States whose travel originates in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea will be required to fly into one of the five airports that have the enhanced screening and additional resources in place.
Is this some sort of half-vast compromise…? Who pays for rerouting people? Can civilians really spot sick people–is that weird thermometer gun a solution?
-Now if we could only get “travel restrictions” on the 100,000++ coming from Mexico…
Taking their cues from Harvard?
Harvard University has imposed an effective travel ban on Ebola-stricken countries, requiring students, faculty, and staff to obtain official permission from the university administration before traveling to affected parts of West Africa, and possibly staying off campus for 21 days after returning to the U.S. from those countries.
Thanks for that information. Do you know when this was announced?
I saw it on Breitbart–yesterday.
Thanks Julie.
Typical Obama. Just enough to help red-state Dems but not nearly enough to be meaningful. Why? Because the TSA at those 5 airports will not be trained (though we will be assured they will be) and even if they are trained (which will be inadequate even if it happens) the people doing the screening will STILL be performed by UNION TSA who DON’T GIVE SH*T and have a proven track record of being UTTERLY INCOMPETENT while not giving a sh*t.
That is all.
Do you think an asterisk makes that classy?
Do you think it matters?
It does to me…I prefer more i maginative writing…it makes my ideas more insightful if I have to stretch to meet someone else’s level.
‘Barack Hussein Obama’ = he is many of the “7 words you cant say on TV”
~God Bless George Carlin :-)
See? Imaginative. I like that.
Sheesh, please tell me that I am not the only one tired of seeing so many posts chastising others here for what they say and how they say it! This weekend, there was even an objection to use of “WTF”. Unbelievable.
For Pete’s sake, this is Keith’s blog and it’s up to him to decide whether someone has crossed the line by using curse words. I have seen him delete posts that go too far, even just this morning.
This constant objecting to any and all “bad” words, even using abbreviations (‘WTF”) or asterisks is beyond ridiculous and at this point, just rude. None of us have a right to tell any other poster here what they can post or how they should or should not phrase something; although, yes, I realize that by making this comment I am sort of doing precisely that. I’m just sick and tired of biting my tongue every damn time I see this (which is multiple times a day!)
Ordinary, I scroll by comments I am not interested in, but just this once, I finally have to say something. Now, I shall continue to scroll, and I will ask everyone here to do the same. If you don’t appreciate a comment, or how it’s phrased, just scroll along.
Or, better yet, if you want the right to approve of every comment posted, then get your own blog!
**like*** SnarkEsq
LIKE. LOVE. And AMEN.
Bravo, SnarkEsq. !
******like, like, like, like********* AMEN
Once again, I wish this site used Disqus, if only for its “like” function!
Is this a joke? The five airports “account for 94 percent of travelers flying to the U.S. from these countries.”
So 6% of West Africans can still fly into the country. All it takes is ONE of them to have Ebola and to spread it.
Folks, our government doesn’t care whether you live or die and this situation is simply one more that proves it.
Plus–people from the Zones can still fly around on planes that then have to be cleaned esp well, etc. If they knew they would be turned back, maybe they would not board.
I still don’t think any of these new restrictions would have caught Duncan at Dulles. He wasn’t running a fever at that time ?
And some people who contract it never exhibit a fever.
“I think the top leadership challenge issue in our world today is how to deal with the continuing, growing population in the world and all the resource demands it places on the world and burgeoning populations in Africa and Asia that lack the resources to have a healthy, happy life,” Klain said.
http://www.libertynews.com/2014/10/hmm-obama-ebola-czar-ron-klain-overpopulation-is-the-top-leadership-issue-video/#sthash.WRnsUocM.dpuf
Little tangent for Ron, there. Unless…Ebola is a way of controlling population…nah.
Calling Dr. Zeke, calling Dr. Zeke.
LOL. I dunno–that guy is just funny to me–so gray and wan looking and telling us about health.
Not so subtle way of saying there are too many people here. Welcome Ebola, Enterovirus, TB and all others to the former United States. All carriers are free to move about the country.
He was talking about the over-taxed resources of Africa and Asia.
The “over-taxed resources of Africa and Asia” have always, will always, overtax the resources of the West.
Based on their logic they used to not restrict travel completely,this doesn’t work either,as people will sneak in other ways. Nothing this administration does is for the good of the people. Its all window dressing.
Nice try, but this really does nothing, nada, zip, zilch. But I did see that the WHO confirmed that a few neighboring countries to Sierra Leone, Liberia have been confirmed EBOLA FREE…. wow, I wonder what kind of magic wand they have over there…
wait…they shut the borders….oh yea….
H
They really, truly, think we’re stupid and don’t pay attention to anything beyond our noses.
One question: if someone presents with suspicious symptoms, will the plane and everyone who flew on it be put into quarantine?
Idiots.
The more important question is how the CDC allowed a plane full of people to deplane within hours after the plane landed at JFK with a dead passenger from Nigeria. The CDC quickly said he did not have ebola. No one knows how they quickly reached that decision. Rep. King questioned it.
I don’t think the CDC has the power to do anything.
FCMABBHO refusee to implement proposed CDC rules that would’ve allowed just that in 2010.
This does nothing to stop potential Ebola carriers from spreading the plague here. More proof that Barak O-bola hates us.
Just more window dressing. It’s like being a bit pregnant.
So, as long as people don’t have a fever and don’t lie on their questionnaires, we’re better protected.
How good is that ban if you have to use one of those airports? How are we supposed to know if one of the passengers is from West Africa and hasn’t shown any symptoms yet? What is someone gets sick on the plane, isn’t this a way to spread this disease sitting on a plane? How stupid are Americans to listen to Obama and the CDC. Ban all West Africans from entering our country Period.