Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, December 13, 1989
Gerald S. Cohen, Special to The Chronicle
The government now marks the passports of people infected with the AIDS-causing HIV virus and questions individuals who apply for travel visas about their HIV status.
Duke Austin of the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Congress placed AIDS on the dangerous contagious disease list, and Congress will have to take it off. But he added that some of the changes sought by the commission are being discussed by the administration.
Commission Chairwoman June Osborn said the problem demands the immediate attention of the Bush administration because it threatens to discourage participation in the sixth International Conference on AIDS in San Francisco in June and the World Federation of Hemophilia conference in Washington in August.
The League of Red Cross Societies, the umbrella organization for Red Cross and Red Crescent activities worldwide, announced last month that it is boycotting the San Francisco conference. The organization said U.S. visa policies conflict with Red Cross "principles of humanitarian support" for AIDS patients.
Jean McGuire, chairwoman of the National Organizations Responding to AIDS, said yesterday that representatives of the organization's 36 agencies also are considering a boycott of the conference.
Dr. Paul Volberding, co-chairman of the San Francisco conference, estimated that as many as 3,000 of an expected 12,000 registrants could decide not to attend unless the travel policy is changed.
Yesterday's move was the second major pronouncement by the commission since Congress chartered the organization four months ago to deal with the AIDS crisis.
The pronouncement was praised by dozens of organizations concerned with AIDS, immigration and human rights issues, including the American Bar Association, the American Red Cross, the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, the American Civil Liberties Union and others.
Since 1987, persons infected with HIV have been subject to restrictions that can deny them entry to the country. Short-term visitors who disclose their HIV status can receive 30-day entry visas. Other individuals seeking permanent residence are required to take an HIV antibody test. Unless applying as a refugee or for amnesty status, those who test positive are barred from becoming permanent residents.
According to McGill University, only nine other countries impose restrictions on HIV carriers. The World Health Organization has determined that screening of international travelers cannot prevent the introduction or spread of HIV infection.
Dr. Osborn said the current policies "fly in the face of strong international opinion and practice, they lead to unconscionable infringement of human rights and dignity, and they reinforce a false impression that AIDS and HIV infection are a general threat when in fact they are sharply restricted in their mode of transmission."
She and other critics complain that the immigration service's extensive HIV testing operation is fraught with problems, including erroneous diagnoses, lack of pre- and post-counseling services and poor access to health services. They added that immigration inspectors routinely stop people at the border and question them about HIV status.
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