HIV screening for all persons over 14 years of age 
applying for immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. 
(3) The Immigration Act of 1990 (Public Law 
101–649) authorized the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services to decide which diseases should be 
considered as grounds for excluding noncitizens from 
entering the United States based on a determination 
that such diseases were ‘‘communicable diseases of 
public health significance’’. 
(4) In 1991, the Department of Health and 
Human Services conducted a public health analysis 
and proposed ending the HIV travel and immigra-
tion ban by delisting HIV as a communicable disease 
of public health significance. The proposal was even-
tually dropped due to opposition from the Congress. 
(5) In 1993, as part of the National Institutes 
of Health Revitalization Act (Public Law 103–43), 
the Congress revoked the authority of the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services to make a public 
health determination regarding HIV status as 
grounds for inadmissibility for potential foreign stu-
dents, tourists, refugees, and immigrants to the 
United States by specifically including ‘‘infection 
with the etiologic agent for acquired immune defi-
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ciency syndrome’’ as a ‘‘communicable disease of 
public health significance’’ under the statute. 
(6) HIV/AIDS is the only condition perma-
nently listed by statute as a communicable disease of 
public health significance. In contrast, the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services has the authority to 
add or remove all other diseases on the commu-
nicable disease list. 
(7) The United States is one of 13 countries 
that maintain by law both a travel and immigration 
ban for persons with HIV, including Armenia, 
Brunei, China, Iraq, Qatar, South Korea, Libya, 
Moldova, Oman, the Russian Federation, Saudi Ara-
bia, and Sudan. 
(8) The HIV travel and immigration ban im-
pacts thousands of prospective HIV-positive foreign 
students, tourists, refugees and immigrants who may 
be denied entry into the United States due solely to 
their HIV status. 
(9) In some cases the HIV travel and immigra-
tion ban may discourage foreign students, refugees, 
and nonpermanent residents who are already in the 
United States and who may be at risk of infection 
from seeking testing, treatment or care for HIV/ 
AIDS. 
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(10) The United Nations, including the Joint 
United 
Nations 
Programme 
on 
HIV/AIDS 
(UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization, op-
pose any restrictions on travel and immigration for 
people living with HIV/AIDS. Travel and immigra-
tion restrictions based on a public health or eco-
nomic cost rationale are addressed in the United 
Nation’s ‘‘International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS 
and Human Rights, 2006 Consolidated Version’’, 
produced jointly by the Office of the United Nations 
High 
Commissioner 
for 
Human 
Rights 
and 
UNAIDS, which state the following: ‘‘There is no 
public health rationale for restricting liberty of 
movement or choice of residence on the grounds of 
HIV status. According to current international 
health regulations, the only disease which requires a 
certificate for international travel is yellow fever. 
Therefore, any restrictions on these rights based on 
suspected or real HIV status alone, including HIV 
screening of international travelers, are discrimina-
tory and cannot be justified by public health con-
cerns’’. 
(11) Such guidelines also state the following: 
‘‘Where States prohibit people living with HIV from 
longer term residency due to concerns about eco-
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nomic costs, States should not single out HIV/AIDS, 
as opposed to comparable conditions, for such treat-
ment and should establish that such costs would in-
deed be incurred in the case of the individual alien 
seeking residency. In considering entry applications, 
humanitarian concerns, such as family reunification 
and the need for asylum, should outweigh economic 
considerations.’’. 
(12) On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2006, 
the President proposed streamlining the current 
waiver process for HIV-positive individuals seeking 
to enter the United States on short-term business or 
tourist visas for up to 60 days by granting them a 
‘‘categorical waiver’’. If implemented, the President’s 
proposal would only affect the waiver process for 
short-term visitors, and would not affect HIV-posi-
tive individuals seeking permanent residence or non-
tourist visas. 
(13) 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. 
(14) The Secretary of Health and Human Serv-
ices should have the authority to determine which 
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diseases should be included on the list of commu-
nicable diseases of public health significance, and in-
fection with HIV should not be required by law to 
be included on such a list. 
SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE IMMIGRATION AND NATION-
ALITY ACT. 
Section 212(a)(1)(A)(i) of the Immigration and Na-
tionality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(1)(A)(i)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘which shall include infection with the etiologic 
agent for acquired immune deficiency syndrome,’’. 
SEC. 4. REVIEW OF TRAVEL AND IMMIGRATION REGULA-
TIONS REGARDING HIV. 
(a) REVIEW.—Not later than 15 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, shall convene a panel of public health 
experts, including non-governmental experts, to review all 
policies regarding HIV as a ‘‘communicable disease of 
public health significance’’ under section 212(a)(1)(A)(i) 
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182 
(a)(1)(A)(i)) and which shall include— 
(1) the results of the last analysis of the policy 
conducted by the Public Health Service; and 
(2) a 30-day public comment period initiated 
after sufficient public notice in the Federal Register. 
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