The United States' HIV Immigration Ban Eliminated? Not So Fast!

Today, President Bush is likely to re-authorize PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). As it stands, PEPFAR contains a provision that removes a 15-year statutory ban on the entry of people with HIV/AIDS into the United States, a discriminatorily restrictive policy for HIV positive immigrants and travelers. Many advocates are hailing the provision as a significant achievement in immigrant justice. Dr. Nancy Ordover, founder of the Coalition to the Lift the Bar and member of the International Task Team on HIV-related Travel Restrictions, attests, "Two and half years ago, we were told it couldn't be done. We were told to abandon HIV positive immigrants and focus on extending waiver options for short-term travelers with HIV. We rejected that division, and I believe that our adherence to human rights and social justice principles is what got us this far."

But How Far Have We Really Come?
Contrary to popular belief, the ban isn't actually being lifted. Rather, it's being changed from a statutory ban to an administrative ban. In other words, when President Bush reauthorizes PEPFAR, it will restore to bureaucrats at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to determine on a case-by-case basis (hopefully using sound medical and public health reasoning – cross your fingers!) whether someone's HIV status is grounds for denial of entry. As Dr. Ordover summarizes, "HHS is where the ban lived, administratively, for the first 6 years of its life [1987-1993], and it did plenty of damage there. If the entry ban ends up solely an HHS matter, it will be critical for us to maintain our vigilance and unity, so that the administration doesn't split the ban – lifting it for travelers and some visa holders, but keeping it in place for long-term visa seekers and immigrants."

A Dose of Reality
Most HIV positive immigrants will still have to overcome major hurdles entering and leaving the U.S. (as all the people with HIV who can't travel to Mexico City for the IAC can confirm). And exclusion from many life-saving public health programs and services will remain in place, as will insurmountable obstacles for people seeking to adjust their immigration status.

Refocusing Our Efforts
To make sure that our achievement is more than illusory, we must concentrate our efforts on HHS to ensure that the ban is truly eliminated – and all other vestiges of this egregiously discriminatory policy that's based on nothing but ideology and purposeful ignorance.