Housing Works, an AIDS non-profit based in New York, is reporting on their website that up to 60 Canadians living with HIV have been denied entry into the United States, contrary to stated U.S. policy that foreigners living with HIV would no longer be barred from entering the country. The groups are calling on Secretary of State Clinton to resolve the matter and on President Obama to do away with Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) regulations that are effectively keeping the HIV travel ban in place.
The 60 Canadians had planned to attend the North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit in Washington, D.C. from June 2 to June 5.
In July 2008, President Bush signed a law authorizing the Department of Health and Human Services to lift the decades-long ban on foreigners living with HIV entering the United States. The U.S. is one of only 14 countries* in the world that bar entry to persons with HIV, a fact that has drawn broad condemnation from both domestic and international human rights organizations.
Yet the ban still has not yet been stricken from DHHS regulations; instead, the Department of Homeland Security put into place a series of measures designed to “streamline” the process for entry into the U.S. for people living with HIV. In March, DHHS officials indicated that granting a “designated event HIV waiver” for the Housing Summit was underway. Such waivers are designed to allow people living with HIV to attend conferences in the U.S.
On Friday, May 22, 11 days before the summit start date, the Ottawa Embassy informed the OHTN that each of the 60 people in its delegation to the Washington, D.C. AIDS Housing Summit would have to comply with the new visa process.
The visa process requires, among other things, a face-to-face interview; a photo; a $131 money order from a specific Canadian bank; an agreement not to extend the visit for any reason; completion of a health form, and a pledge that the applicant has adequate health coverage. Because the group was notified so close to the conference time, organizers said it would be nearly impossible to meet the requirements set by Homeland Security. It remains to be seen whether any of the participants made it to the conference which starts today in Washington..
The 60 Canadians had planned to attend the North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit in Washington, D.C. from June 2 to June 5.
In July 2008, President Bush signed a law authorizing the Department of Health and Human Services to lift the decades-long ban on foreigners living with HIV entering the United States. The U.S. is one of only 14 countries* in the world that bar entry to persons with HIV, a fact that has drawn broad condemnation from both domestic and international human rights organizations.
Yet the ban still has not yet been stricken from DHHS regulations; instead, the Department of Homeland Security put into place a series of measures designed to “streamline” the process for entry into the U.S. for people living with HIV. In March, DHHS officials indicated that granting a “designated event HIV waiver” for the Housing Summit was underway. Such waivers are designed to allow people living with HIV to attend conferences in the U.S.
On Friday, May 22, 11 days before the summit start date, the Ottawa Embassy informed the OHTN that each of the 60 people in its delegation to the Washington, D.C. AIDS Housing Summit would have to comply with the new visa process.
The visa process requires, among other things, a face-to-face interview; a photo; a $131 money order from a specific Canadian bank; an agreement not to extend the visit for any reason; completion of a health form, and a pledge that the applicant has adequate health coverage. Because the group was notified so close to the conference time, organizers said it would be nearly impossible to meet the requirements set by Homeland Security. It remains to be seen whether any of the participants made it to the conference which starts today in Washington..
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