To the editor:
There is a crisis at our Southern border. Democrats make many excuses to try to convince us that all the illegal migrants are an asset to our country. I recently heard a Democrat debating a Republican about the border on a Newsmax program. This Democrat stated that our unemployment rate is 3.5 percent (it is now 3.8 percent) and there are countless jobs that have not been filled and migrants could fill those jobs.
In a recent column discussing migrants going to New York, Betsy McCaughey discussed the topic of illegal migrants including the belief that they would be able to fill vacant jobs. Although there are not statistics compiled on the recent migrants, the Pew Research Center reports that "most migrants do not speak English and do not have higher education.. McCaughey reported that New York Mayor Adams stated that the migrants are professionals who need to work. One profession that he mentioned was nursing. Since nursing is my profession, I am more qualified than Adams to discuss why these migrants cannot lessen the nursing shortage.
During my 51 years as a nurse, I have seen times when we had a nursing shortage, but never as bad as the current shortage. COVID is one major reason why we have a shortage. During the beginning period of COVID, when the hospitals were overloaded with critical COVID patients, nurses were working overtime. Many nurses did not see their families for long periods of time. There was always the risk of contracting COVID.
Then the vaccine was developed. Many employers, based on the "recommendations" of the Biden administration, mandated that nurses must receive the vaccine. Due to the fact that this vaccine was developed quickly with minimal testing, there were nurses who refused to take the vaccine. Some of these nurses had religious restrictions and many were of childbearing age and were unsure of the effect on their reproductive system or an unborn child. When I was pregnant, I was able to refuse a flu shot, which was an established safe vaccine. These nurses deserved to refuse the COVID vaccine and continue to practice their profession.
Nurses are educated in higher education institutions, in programs approved by the state. In order to practice as a professional nurse, one must attend an approved nursing school and upon graduation pass the NCLEX exam. There are ways in which foreign nurses can practice nursing in our country, but they must meet stringent requirements plus be fluent in the English language. How many of the illegal migrants are capable of meeting these requirements upon arriving in our country?
Have the migrants been tested for COVID? How many have received the COVID vaccine which was mandatory for our nurses? Did they attend approved nursing schools? Are they fluent in English? How many illegal migrants meet these criteria? How can they alleviate our nursing shortage?
Adams and his fellow Democrats need to quit lying about illegal migrants' ability to fill jobs, especially professional jobs.
Michalene A. King
Wintersville