The United States has ended its
22-year-old policy that banned HIV-positive people from entering the
country.
At the White House signing ceremony for
the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 on Friday,
President Obama announced the change.
“Twenty-two years ago, in a decision
rooted in fear rather than fact, the United States instituted a
travel ban on entry into the country for people living with HIV/AIDS,”
Obama said. “If we want to be the global leader in combating
HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it.”
“And that's why, on Monday my
administration will publish a final rule that eliminates the travel
ban effective just after the New Year. Congress and President Bush
began this process last year, and they ought to be commended for it.
We are finishing the job. It's a step that will encourage people to
get tested and get treatment, it's a step that will keep families
together, and it's a step that will save lives.”
Congress approved and President George
Bush signed the United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS,
Tuberculous and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 on July 30, 2008.
But Bush officials failed to implement the regulatory changes to end
the restrictions.
Immigration Equality, a group that
advocates for gay immigrant rights, worked closely last year with
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, California Congresswoman Barbara
Lee and former Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, a Republican, to pass the
legislation.
“Today a discriminatory travel and
immigration ban has gone the way of the dinosaur and we're glad it's
finally extinct. It sure took too long to get here,” Senator Kerry
said in a statement. “We've now removed one more hurdle in our
fight against AIDS, and it's long overdue for people living with HIV
who battle against the stigma and bigotry day in and day out.”
The ban has kept “Americans, both gay
and straight, separated from loved ones living with HIV abroad,”
Steve Ralls, director of communications for Immigration Equality told
On Top Magazine.
“There hasn't been a single major
HIV/AIDS or scientific conference in the United States in decades
because of the ban, either. It has undermined our commitment to
equality and tarnished our reputation as a leader in fostering
scientific and medical innovation,” Ralls added.
Immigration Equality also points out
that the ban disproportionately affected gay and lesbian couples
because their relationships are not recognized under current
immigration law, and HIV ban waivers are generally based on a U.S.
familial relationship.
“At long last, our nation's unjust
policy of excluding HIV-positive visitors and immigrants has ended,”
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a
statement.
“We applaud the leadership of our
allies in Congress, especially Senator Kerry, and of President Obama
and Secretary [of Health and Human Services] Sebelius in bringing
this discriminatory chapter of our history to a close.”