President Obama to lift ban on allowing people with HIV/AIDS into the United States
Currently, those applying for green cards, work visas or entry for other reasons, and are knowingly positive for HIV/AIDS - or test positive upon a mandatory health screening (for a green card, for example) are denied entry if it's found that they are HIV+ or have AIDS. Their work permits will be taken away or their green cards denied, when otherwise would have been granted.
They can also be turned away at customs if they are listed as a person with HIV/AIDS.
President Obama said that the United States is one of a very few countries that have this ban and it's time to lift it. He said that people should not be stigmatized or discriminated against due to their HIV status.
People who agree with the ban believe that HIV+ people may infect others here in the United States or come here specifically to take advantage of the medical resources offered and will be an economic drain on a country already in recession.
The ban will be lifted in the new year.
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Do you think it's right to lift this ban? Why? Why not?
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I feel that this will end up being a legal issue if he doesn't deal with this now. This is clearly discrimination. Can HIV/AIDS be considered a disability? Maybe, but in the long run, I believe that turning people away due to health issues will be a legal matter that an (ambulance chasing) lawyer will have a field day with and make millions of dollars. Nip it in the bud now.
HIV/AIDS has been an epidemic for years and according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC). In 2007, 1.1 million Americans were living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. Maybe spending more time trying to find a cure is a better suited argument for the President. Keeping new HIV/AIDS victims out of the US, is not helping the people that are already suffering.
Great post, Susan!
This is so interesting from that "legal" point of view. It almost treats those with HIV/AIDS as a protected class unto themselves. But unlike other protected classes (race, religion, gender, age, and so on), HIV/AIDS affects everyone. Men and women. Old and young. Different races, religions and sexual orientations.
I agree that the ban should be lifted. But it makes me curious as to whether the United States bans people with other conditions or illnesses, and if so, what they are?