Since 1987, there have been restrictions on allowing HIV-positive non-citizens to travel or immigrate to the United States. Uner the ban, in order to enter the U.S., an HIV-positive non-citizen was required to meet strict waiver requirements. All applicants for lawful permanent residence were required to take an HIV test, and if the result was positive, needed to get a waiver to continue the application process.
President Bill Clinton attempted to lift the restrictions in 1993, but Congress responded by adding the HIV exclusion to the Immigration and Nationality Act. When enacted, it was less understood whether AIDS could be spread through casual contact, and the disease was less manageable through treatment than it is today. Also on the exclusion list for travel and immigration are active tuberculosis, infectious gonorrhea, syphilis and infectious leprosy, as well as little-known sexually transmitted conditions such as chancroid, lymphogranuloma venereum or LGV, and granuloma inguinale. More than 1.1 million people in the U.S. are infected with HIV and more than 250,000 remain undiagnosed, according to the Center for Disease Control. According to estimates, about 56,000 people in the U.S. are newly infected with the virus each year.
Sources: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2010/01/lifting-hiv-travel-ban-marks-end-to-era.php
