Illegal Chinese migrant ‘exposed hundreds in Louisiana to rare TB strain’ as state sues DHS and Mayorkas

Louisiana is suing top American security officials after a Chinese migrant entered the state illegally and may have exposed hundreds to a deadly tuberculosis strain.

The lawsuit specifically names Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and claims that ‘through his official capacity’ as security secretary he allegedly allowed the sick detainee to travel through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities. 

The suit states Louisiana is in an ’emergency situation’ because the Chinese national has ‘a rare, aggressive, and drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, which carries high mortality rates.’

The state said the migrant traveled from Louisiana facilities in Monroe, Basile and Lafayette, exposing more than 200 detainees and ‘untold numbers of non-detainees.’

The US Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the detention facilities are also named as defendants in the suit.  

Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill’s Office is demanding that ICE medically clear detainees before they leave the detention centers to prevent the TB from spreading more widely.

Local outlet WDSU reported that, according to sources, ICE is refusing to comply with this, which is what sparked the lawsuit. 

Now, a federal judge has granted a temporary restraining order to keep the Chinese national in custody as the state works to resolve the situation. 

The lawsuit against Mayorkas is ongoing in federal court. 

Louisiana Gov Jeff Landry said at a press conference: ‘At this time, we have no indication that the public is in any danger.’

The lawsuit, which has concealed many personal details of the Chinese migrant, states they traveled from their home to Mexico where they illegally crossed the US border. The migrant was apprehended in California in July 2024. 

Officials then flew the migrant on a plane with 100 other detainees to Alexandria, Louisiana, where they then boarded a bus with 40 others and taken to Richwood Correction Center in Monroe. 

The lawsuit claims some of those 40 people have since been deported, transferred or released. 

The Chinese national was tested for TB upon their arrival at Richwood and three days later the results were ‘noted to be highly positive.’ 

Tuberculosis (TB) is considered to be serious by health officials. It is an infection of the lungs that occurs when a person breathes in the bacteria mycobacterium tuberculosis.

It can also infect the brain, kidneys and spine.

The bacteria that cause tuberculosis are spread from person to person through tiny droplets in the air released in coughs and sneezes.

It used to be one of the deadliest diseases in the world, with earliest known cases at the start of recorded human history.

But in areas of the world where people can be vaccinated, screened, diagnosed early and treated for the infection, treatment success can be near 90 percent. 

However, tuberculosis is slow growing and may not be detected until eight to 10 weeks after exposure, allowing it to unknowingly spread. It is difficult to detect in early stages, but symptoms include persistent cough, coughing up blood, night sweats, weight loss and fever. 

In this case, the migrant allegedly has ‘drug resistant’ TB, or TB bacteria that are resistant to at least one of the most effective TB medications and treatment regimens. 

According to the NIH, there were 9,615 cases of TB in the US last year, a 16 percent increase over 2022 and an eight percent increase from the pre-pandemic count in 2019.  

Overall, the TB rate increased by 15 percent, from 2.5 cases per 100,000 people in 2022 to 2.9 cases per 100,000 people in 2023. 

A separate report from the NIH named China as one of the 30 high-TB burden countries in the world. The TB incidence rate fell 43.1 percent from 1990 (130 cases per 100,000 people) to 2010 (74 cases per 100,000 people). 

In 2019, there were about 833,000 new TB cases in China with a TB incidence rate of 58 cases per 100,000 people. 

Additionally, China has the highest latent TB infections (cases in which a person is infected with the bacteria but does not have the disease) across the globe, with approximately 350 million infections that are at risk of developing into active TB cases.