U.S. Lifts Ban On HIV-Positive Travelers

Today President George W. Bush is expected to sign into law the Tom Lantos & Henry J. Hyde U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008, a presidential initiative to combat the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, including a provision ending the ban on HIV-positive travelers and immigrants.

The following can be attributed to Joanne Lin, ACLU Legislative Counsel:

“The ACLU applauds the president and Congress for their leadership in lifting a 21-year ban on HIV-positive travelers and immigrants. Today the president signed landmark HIV/AIDS legislation into law and ended a shameful era in American immigration policy.

For a generation, HIV/AIDS was the only disease singled out in our immigration laws as a basis to ban visitors and immigrants from this country.

“Lifting the ban will remove the discriminatory barrier long faced by HIV-positive people and their families. Now the immigration laws will treat HIV/AIDS like other communicable diseases. This legislation is a major advance for all people living with HIV/AIDS.”