Ban on travelers with HIV is removed

January 13, 2010

The federal government has overturned a 22-year-old travel and immigration ban on people with HIV entering the country.

The U.S. has been among a dozen countries that bar entry to travelers with visas or anyone seeking a green card based on their HIV status.

President Barack Obama called the travel ban “a decision rooted in fear rather than fact” that ran counter to efforts to reduce the stigma of AIDS and the nation’s leadership in trying to stem the disease.

The law has kept out thousands of students, tourists and refugees and has complicated the adoption of children with HIV. No major international AIDS conference has been held in the U.S. since 1993 because HIV-positive activists and researchers have not been allowed to enter the country.

Obama said that by lifting the ban, the U.S. will take a step toward ending the stigma regarding people with HIV/AIDS. The ban removal will take effect early next year.

[Print] [Email] [del.icio.us] [Digg] [Facebook] [Furl] [Reddit] [StumbleUpon]


Comments

Got something to say?





Bottom