Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said Sunday that outbreaks of measles in parts of the United States were connected to what he described as “rampant illegal immigration” that occurred during the Biden administration, as reported by Breitbart.
Donalds, the Republican nominee for Florida governor, made the comments during an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” where host Margaret Brennan questioned him about vaccination policy and concerns surrounding an apparent measles outbreak in Florida.
The discussion began with health care costs and vaccination coverage before Brennan noted that much of Florida was below a 95% immunization rate for measles, which she described as the level associated with herd immunity.
She asked Donalds whether his message to Florida parents was to have their children vaccinated against measles.
Donalds instead argued that immigration enforcement was central to addressing outbreaks.
“I think that’s much more of a constructive conversation about costs and health care and trying to stabilize prices than just simply vaccinations,” Donalds said earlier in the exchange.
When Brennan returned to the vaccination question, Donalds responded, “No. Actually, my message to Floridians and, quite frankly, to Americans is, the reason why we have seen a measles outbreak in certain parts of the country is because of rampant illegal immigration into the United States from the previous administration.”
Brennan then asked, “What evidence do you have of that?”
Donalds pointed to outbreaks in several locations, including El Paso, Texas, and southwest Florida, where he lives. He said people entering the country illegally may not have followed vaccination schedules that include protection against measles, mumps, and rubella.
“Margaret, we’ve seen the outbreaks in El Paso, Texas, in southwest Florida, where I live, and many other parts where you know that you have a situation, people have come into the country illegally, have not had that vaccination schedule,” Donalds said.
He added that his comments were not directed at newer concerns some parents have raised about vaccinations for young children.
“And not the ones today on young kids, that parents do have concerns about. I’m talking about previous ones, where people weren’t even getting the measles vaccine or mumps and rubella.”
Brennan pressed Donalds on whether he wanted immigrants to be vaccinated. Donalds said immigration control should come first, arguing that the country could not absorb millions of people without considering vaccination status.
“So, the key thing is you, number one, you’ve got to control immigration into your country. You can’t have an entire segment of people, more than 10 million, come into your country without that vaccination schedule. That’s how you end up having some of these outbreaks,” he said.
The conversation then shifted back to health care costs. Donalds said he believes the cost of health care should remain a major focus for Florida voters and criticized the regulatory structure of the Affordable Care Act.
“And we have already seen that the regulatory framework of the Affordable Care Act is driving up costs on every American,” Donalds said.
When Brennan summarized his position as support for vaccinated immigrants, Donalds clarified that his primary concern was legal immigration.
“Actually, I want — I just want legal immigrants,” he said.
Brennan responded, “Uh-huh. OK.”
Donalds then added, “To be clear, I just want legal immigration with assimilation.”
His comments place immigration enforcement, vaccination policy, and health care costs together in a debate likely to remain prominent as Florida’s gubernatorial campaign moves forward.
