Hon. Zoe Lofgren:
I urge you to support H.R. 3337 introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee in August 2007 to the House of Representatives “to remove from the Immigration and Nationality Act the provision rendering individuals having HIV inadmissible to the United States.” This provision was enacted by Congress in 1993 fueled mainly by fear of an “imported epidemic” that might sweep the country and paralyze the health care system.
H.R. 3337 correctly states that “there is no scientific evidence to support the claim that the HIV travel and immigration ban is an effective way to prevent the spread of HIV or that it provides any economic benefit by reducing costs to the public health care system.” This conclusion has been endorsed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies Task Force on HIV/AIDS, which is co-chaired by former senator and majority leader Bill Frist and Senator Russell Feingold among others ("Moving Beyond the U.S. Government Policy of Inadmissibility of HIV-Infected Noncitizens," March 2007).
Retaining the current travel and immigration ban runs counter to public health best practices and jeopardizes the United States’ critical leadership position in controlling the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also unduly stigmatizes and discriminates HIV-infected tourists, foreign students, prospective immigrants, and refugees from entry into the United States.
The United States is one of only 13 countries now (including Armenia, Brunei, China, Iraq, Qatar, South Korea, Libya, Moldova, Oman, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan) that maintain by law both a travel and immigration ban for persons with HIV. In a positive move, China has most recently announced that it will repeal its immigration laws that restrict people with HIV traveling to the country.
It is time for the United States to repeal the travel and immigration ban against HIV-infected non-citizens. It is the right thing to do and it is long overdue. I respectfully ask your subcommitee in the House Judiciary Committee move H.R. 3337 forward and help make this repeal a reality.
Sincerely,
(Your name)