US Must End Ban on HIV-Positive Immigrants

The US is one of only 12 countries (including Sudan, Moldova and Libya) that flouts UN law by barring HIV-positive visitors or immigrants—and the restriction must end, writes Andrew Sullivan in the Washington Post. The HIV-positive Sullivan, a senior editor at Atlantic magazine, remains in the US only with the help of “great lawyers, a rare O visa…a government-granted HIV waiver” and endless legal fees—and he’s one of the lucky ones.

Others live with the fear of being found out; none are ever eligible for citizenship, even if, like Sullivan, they’ve been living in the US for decades. It’s shameful, he writes, that the world’s greatest research and charitable center for HIV/AIDS discriminates against those with the disease. He urges President Bush to support a repeal of the ban supported by a bipartisan group of senators. (More HIV/AIDS stories.)