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Loading ...DHS preparing to ease ban on HIV+ immigration
09.30.2008 5:05pm EDT
(Washington) The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it is moving to “streamline the issuance of certain short-term non-immigrant visas to people infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus.”
In July, President George W. Bush signed legislation repealing a rule that prevented HIV-infected immigrants, students and tourists from receiving U.S. visas without special waivers. The ban also held up U.S. adoptions of children with HIV.Since then, the administration has been accused of dragging its feet in implementing the change.
The ban was originally enacted in 1987, and explicitly restated in 1993, despite efforts in the public health community to remove the ban when Congress reformed U.S. immigration law in the early 1990s.
Under the new regulations announced by DHS, Department of State consular officers overseas will now have the authority to grant temporary, non-immigrant visas to otherwise eligible applicants who are HIV-positive and meet certain requirements the agency said.
“This regulation significantly improves the opportunities for individuals seeking to visit the U.S. who were previously inadmissible because of an HIV infection,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
“Perhaps most important to the applicants, we’re also accelerating the process by providing an additional avenue for temporary admission, while maintaining a high level of security at our borders.”
The HIV Waiver Final Rule will apply to foreigners who are HIV-positive and seek to enter the United States as visitors for up to 30 days; these individuals still must meet all of the other normal criteria for the granting of a U.S. visa.
The issuance of visas under the rule will also be subject to certain criteria designed to ensure an HIV-positive person’s activities while in the United States do not present a risk to the public health.
Travelers who do not meet the specific requirements of the rule, or who wish to follow the pre-existing process, may elect to follow the existing procedure for a case-by-case determination of their eligibility for a visa and admission authorization.
Visas issued under this final rule will not publicly identify any traveler as HIV-positive, DHS said.
But the agency noted that the changes do not automatically amend existing regulations, administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that continue to list HIV as a “communicable disease of public-health significance.” HHS is currently beginning the rulemaking process to remove HIV from this list.
You mean the law was restated in 1993?
Hmmmm, something I did not remember.
Now who was the President in 1993? Was it that President that gave us Don’t Ask Don’t Tell? Was it that President that signed DOMA?
Why Yes! One in the same. Gosh the Democrats are awfully friendly to them gay folk and their issues!
I agree Trace, this was very shortsighted policy and Clinton should have vetoed the bill. However, while President Clinton and his administration were talking about the need for treating HIV+ people with dignity and respect, and backing that up with huge funding increases for HIV/AIDS research and prevention, the Congressional Republicans were excoriating us. The following is a quote from Bob Dornan, a Republican Congressman from Orange County, when the HIV immigration reforms were being debated in Congress:
“What we’re talking about is letting people come into this country in their young years — what liberals call raging hormones, sexually active years (look at the profile of Haitians) with a communicable, venereal disease that is always fatal. I’m not just isolating this disease or isolating Haitians; if they were all little redheads….”
Some Congressional Republicans wanted to seriously debate the merits of quarantining our HIV+ brothers and sisters. Remember that. It was a different time.
The Clinton Administration advocated for the biggest funding increases in history for HIV prevention and research. This was the first time a US President provided bold leadership on this issue, when we had the Bob Dornans and Bob Dannemeyers (remember them) being the hateful mouthpieces for the powerful Republican Congressional delegation.
They were both blasting Clinton for the HIV funding increases by saying the money should have been spent on research for cancer treatments or heart disease prevention. They were clearly saying that our lives were expendable.
Also, see the Amfar article on the reason why President Clinton did not veto the reauthorizing legislation at: http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/programs/publicp/z.record.html?record=174 – 34k –
In brief, a key paragraph of the article reads:
During his presidential campaign, Clinton promised to repeal the ban on HIV-infected immigrants. However, because the 1993 measure was attached to the NIH Reauthorization Act, which included key provisions supporting AIDS, cancer, women’s health, and other medical research, repealing the ban proved difficult, and AIDS advocates did not push for a veto.