Carlos Rosales: El Paso Shouldn’t Turn Away Victims Of Drug War
by ABC-7 Assistant News Director Carlos Rosales
A newspaper headline Thursday morning declared El Pasoans want victims of the drug war turned away! The El Paso Times article, based on a recent poll, said residents want the wounded treated in Juarez.
All I can say is, “Where is our humanity and decency as El Pasoans and Americans?”
The reasons victims of the drug war come to Thomason hospital are numerous but the two that stand out are better care and above all SAFETY.
In Juarez, the quality of healthcare is not as good as that available on the northern side of the border, and there are no level 1 trauma hospitals or doctors trained in emergency room medicine. If your loved one was injured in Mexico wouldn’t you want the best healthcare for them?
Many of the wounded come to El Paso hospitals because in the past cartel gunmen have been known to go into Mexican hospitals and finish off their victims as they were being treated, something that has NOT happened on the US side of the border.
El Paso police chief Greg Allen has made it very clear that the violence associated with the warring factions has stayed in Juarez and not crossed over. Mayor John Cook, just the other day, stated the cartels “don’t want to wake a sleeping giant.”
Some residents claim the increased costs at the county hospital will be passed on to local residents, perhaps, but that has yet to be determined. Bear in mind about two-thirds of those brought to Thomason had the right to be on US soil and thus get medical treatment.
When we start to turn away those injured in Juarez, what’s to prevent Juarenses from failing to come to the aid of El Pasoans injured there, even if it’s providing only enough medical care to get us back across the river to better medical facilities?
The sign on the Statue of Liberty says, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…” not your HEALTHY and those capable of paying their medical bills!
The day we lose our humanity is the day we become like those we fear across the Rio Grande, cold-blooded and uncaring.
