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Kerry-Smith Riders Would Permit HIV Immigration To US
A two-decade ban on people with HIV visiting or immigrating to the United States may end soon through a Senate bill aimed at fighting AIDS and other diseases in Africa and other poor areas of the world. The U.S. is one of a dozen countries including Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Russia that ban travel and immigration for HIV-positive people. Even China, said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., recently changed that policy, deciding it was "time to move beyond an antiquated, knee-jerk reaction" to people with HIV. "There's no excuse for a law that stigmatizes a particular disease," Kerry said Tuesday at a speech to the Center for Strategic & International Studies HIV/AIDS Task Force. Even people with avian flu or the Ebola virus have an easier time than those with HIV when it come to applying for visas, he said. Kerry and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., are trying to repeal the ban, first implemented in 1987 and confirmed by Congress in 1993. The two have attached their measure to legislation which the Senate may pass this week that would provide $50 billion over the next five years to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa and other poor areas... Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-07-16 |
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