The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund applauds the U.S. House’s vote last week to repeal the HIV travel ban. The Senate voted July 16 to repeal the prohibition, which was codified by Congress in 1993. While immigration law currently excludes foreigners with any “communicable disease of public health significance” from entering the country, only HIV is explicitly named in the statute.

For far too long, people with HIV have been inhumanely blocked from entering the United States due to profound ignorance, fear and misinformation. It’s time to abolish this arcane and unjust law once and for all. We applaud the House and Senate for acting to do just that, and we urge President Bush to move swiftly to sign the repeal.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 at 10:36 am and is filed under Uncategorized .