New York Times Examines Lifting of Ban on Immigrants With HIV

March 19, 2010 — The New York Times on Friday examined a 22-year-old federal ban on visitors and immigrants who test positive for HIV from entering or living in the U.S. and the impact of President Obama's decision to lift the ban in January. The law -- which "many considered cruel," according to the Times -- was imposed in 1987 when HIV-positive foreigners were added to a list of undesirable people barred from entering the U.S. The list also singled out sex workers and people who had committed felonies, according to Christian Schmidt, an immigration lawyer. Immigrants already living in the U.S. were required to undergo HIV testing and if their results were positive, they were forced to leave the country.

Steve Ralls -- a spokesperson for the non-profit group Immigration Equality, which seeks to end immigration restrictions based on HIV status or sexual orientation -- said the ban "set a very bad precedent" and "undermined HIV awareness and testing." Foreigners hoping to travel to the U.S. avoided HIV testing which might have worsened the spread of HIV, Ralls said. The U.S. was the only industrialized nation to impose such a ban; Iran, Iraq and Syria have policies in place to ban foreigners with HIV/AIDS.

Previous efforts to lift the ban in 1993 were blocked by then-Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.). However, Obama -- who described the law as "rooted in fear rather than fact" -- lifted the ban in January. As a result, people who had been forced to leave the U.S. because of their HIV status were "reunited with lives -- and in some cases spouses and families -- they had been forced to leave behind," according to the Times (James, New York Times, 3/19).