General: If Ebola Reaches Central America, 'There Will Be Mass Migration into the U.S.'

    Those looking for good news on the fight against Ebola will not find much encouragement from Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, the commander of the U.S. Southern Command. As Jim Garamone
of Department of Defense News reports, Kelly told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington, DC on Tuesday that, if the disease reaches Central America, "it’s literally, ‘Katie bar the door,’ and there will be mass migration into the United States." He also said with certainty that "there is no way we can keep Ebola [contained] in West Africa."

“By the end of the year, there’s supposed to be 1.4 million people infected with Ebola and 62 percent of them dying, according to the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]..." 

“So, much like West Africa, it will rage for a period of time,” Kelly said. 

This is particularly possible scenario if the disease gets to Haiti or Central America, he said. If the disease gets to countries like Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador, it will cause a panic and people will flee the region, the general said. 

“If it breaks out, it’s literally, ‘Katie bar the door,’ and there will be mass migration into the United States,” Kelly said. “They will run away from Ebola, or if they suspect they are infected, they will try to get to the United States for treatment.”

Kelly said that human trafficking could be an additional wrinkle in the battle to contain the disease. He related a disturbing anecdote from a recent visit to Central America where some men from Liberia were headed to the United States:

Also, transnational criminal networks smuggle people and those people can be carrying Ebola, the general said. Kelly spoke of visiting the border of Costa Rica and Nicaragua with U.S. embassy personnel. At that time, a group of men “were waiting in line to pass into Nicaragua and then on their way north,” he recalled. 

“The embassy person walked over and asked who they were and they told him they were from Liberia and they had been on the road about a week,” Kelly continued. “They met up with the network in Trinidad and now they were on their way to the United States -- illegally, of course.” 

Those men, he said, “could have made it to New York City and still be within the incubation period for Ebola.”

    Earlier this year, General Kelly gave some chilling testimony about the limitations on the United States's ability to protect the southern border:

In spring hearings before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, Kelly said that budgets cuts are “severely degrading” the military’s ability to defend southern approaches to the U.S border. Last year, he said, his task force was unable to act on nearly 75 percent of illicit trafficking events. “I simply sit and watch it go by,” he said. But the potential threats are even greater. Kelly warned that neglect has created vulnerabilities that can be exploited by terrorist groups, describing a “crime-terror convergence” already seen in Lebanese Hezbollah’s involvement in the region.

    While Centers for Disease Control director Tom Frieden recently expressed some optimism in the fight against Ebola in West Africa, he acknowledged that "globally, this is going to be a long, hard fight."


Note: A version of this post first appeared at The Weekly Standard.

Vice President Biden's $245,000 Hotel Bill in Trinidad and Tobago

    Vice President Biden spent only about 20 hours in Trinidad and Tobago on his recent six day trip through South America and the Caribbean, but the hotel bill for the vice president, his entourage and the advance team came in at about $245,000 for an estimated 1,134 room nights.  As is typically the case with VIP travel, the contract was awarded without the usual "full and open competition" due to security and logistical concerns:

    An interesting note in the justification and approval documentation indicated the reasons why the Hyatt was chosen over the somewhat less expensive Hilton:

Hilton Hotel Trinidad – did not have enough rooms available to accommodate the advance and the traveling party.  Additionally, this visit would have conflicted with the state visit of the President of the People’s Republic of China, staying at this hotel.

    Contracts for lodging for the longer Colombian and Brazilian legs of the vice president's trip have not yet surfaced.

Note: A version of this article first appeared at The Weekly Standard.