For more than a year, advocates and government officials have been working
to end the 22-year-old travel ban on people with HIV entering the United States.
Today, President Obama finished the process, announcing the new rules as he
signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009, noting, "If we
want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it. And
that's why on Monday my administration will publish a final rule that
eliminates the travel ban effective just after the New Year."
In 1987, the US Public Health Service first issued the ban. That
same year, Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) added HIV to a list of travel
restrictions, approved unanimously by Congress. In 1993, Congress added the HIV
ban to immigration laws, further strengthening the policy. Repeal efforts
throughout the years failed until 2008 when Congress voted to end the ban and
then-President Bush signed the measure.
"Transgender people, along with other vulnerable populations, are particularly at risk for HIV and AIDS. We applaud this
long-overdue change in federal policy," remarked Mara Keisling, the Executive
Director for the National Center for Transgender Equality. "Our government policies
should be grounded in science, not in myth. We know that travelers with HIV are
not a threat to our country and there is no reason to bar them from entry."
For more information about transgender people and HIV/AIDS,
visit the Center for Excellence for Transgender HIV Prevention.
|
