> Now, do I think that American Missionaries, or any ex-pats, should have priority medical care over others, particularly local medical staff? That's the real issue here. What were the criteria for finding patients?

While I share the same general sentiment, and I don't know what laws the US has about quarantining people, I think the big factor to keep in mind here is that as American citizens, they have every right to return to the US -- they just happen to be returning for medical treatment. Whereas foreign nationals with infectious diseases (much less Ebola) could be turned away as a matter of routine.