USA to remove HIV ban

[Darren Wheeler]

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/am ... 334810.stm [y]


One less tick-box on the I94W, but I still have to think about the 'Moral Turpitude' question.

That is good and right news, and very, very long overdue. It's been a stain on the US's reputation for some time.

Thanks for posting.

Darren,

I have sent you a PM about this post.

Thanks,

HG

[Darren Wheeler]

Recieved.

quote:Originally posted by Darren Wheeler
Recieved.


Thanks [y]

Wow what good news, very long over due!

An end to an embarrassing situation, glad to finally see this.

[fozzyo]

Definitely good this has ended! It makes travel a lot easier for a lot of people, and in a lot of cases means they can continue to take their meds while away!

Absolutely ridiculous requirement, but its ending now so hurrah!!

[Bazz]

Definitely well over due, I have a very good friend who has suffered under this ban, it will be great to see it gone!

About time too. [y] The Ban has never made sense to me.

Shame. [:(!]

[Decker]

Alan - before I delete your post for its apparent homophobia can you perhaps expand as to your meaning?

Decker - you know this, I know, but the straightforward HIV = gay connection is untrue and has been probably since HIV was first discovered. Even in the US, >40% of current HIV infections are among heterosexual women, in other parts of the world the vast majority of HIV infection is among heterosexuals.

So, while Alan's comment may well have been homophobic, and for this I'd expect instant ejection, but if it is, it's also misguided and uneducated.

That makes three of us . . . . .do tell Alan

[Decker]

Therein lies the rub gentlemen, given that HIV is not a 'gay disease' I fail to see why Alan (who has previously made some anti-gay comments on these fora but who has been consistently civil since) would see it as a 'shame' that innocent people who are afflicted with a serious (although potentially non-lethal) illness would no longer be harrassed on entry to the US. I therefore leapt to the conclusion that I must be misunderstanding his comment and am therefore providing space for him to explain. (Thanks BTW Slinky - I covenanted to THT nearly 20 years ago now precisely because I know that there but for the grace of God...).

quote:Originally posted by Decker
Thanks BTW Slinky - I covenanted to THT nearly 20 years ago now precisely because I know that there but for the grace of God...


No doubt overlapping with many of the years I spent buddying ... times change and so does ability to commit and I haven't done that for several years now.

[Decker]

Awwww bless. A worthy task.

It's worth pointing out that the ban was passed unanimously by a Democrat-led senate in the late 80s, basically due to poor understanding of the scientific basis of AIDS as much as some Jesse Helms rattling, and was revoked very much as a jointly sponsored effort, and signed into law by Prez Bush. It's never been much of a partisan issue, and in many ways the long time it took to sort this out is due as much to the long bureaucratic timelines for changes in immigration law in the US as much as anything else.

My much better half has seen a good number of problem cases in this space, exclusively with women, in the context of trying to help children. Whatever one's beliefs are about a lot of things - and, well, you can pretty much see mine on the political compass thread - this piece of legislation had such a remarkable amount of negative and unforeseen consequences that it had become pretty much untenable no matter what moral, philosophical or political stance one happens to take, or so one would like to think.

[mcmbenjamin]

FYI: This effects immigrat (EB-5, EB series, etc) and non-immigrat (H-1Bs, plus B, F, J, L, etc series) of visas.

quote:... it had become pretty much untenable no matter what moral, philosophical or political stance one happens to take, or so one would like to think


That it may be, but more than twenty years for the political will to exist to change it and only ten months of the most recent President's tenure to realise it.

Not to quibble, but the ban came into effect in 1987, further enshrined in the Immigration Act of 1990. In 2008, legislative changes allowed the Secretary for Health to exclude HIV status from the list of defined communicable diseases of public health significance and overrule the immigration act, it took a further year through June 2009 for a recommendation to this effect to take place.

Most may agree it's a good thing, but it didn't take twenty two years of bureaucracy alone!

I agree with Slinky and others here, I personaly know of some, inc ladies, that have been refused entry cos they have meds in their luggage. Get real US of A ! x

[Darren Wheeler]

Immigration ban now lifted too

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8438865.stm

[HighFlyer]

Great news, Darren - I really cannot believe it has taken this long.

Thanks,
Sarah