Senators Want More Immigrants With AIDS
By Greg L | 17 July 2008 | National Politics, US Senate | 31 Comments
We apparently do not have enough HIV-positive people in this country, and have a need to import them from overseas, as Fox News reports:
Under current law, HIV is the only medical condition explicitly listed under immigration law. The Kerry-Smith provision would make HIV equivalent to other communicable diseases where medical and public health experts at the Health and Human Services Department — not consular officials at U.S. embassies — determine eligibility for admission.
Those with HIV seeking legal permanent residency would still have to demonstrate they have the resources to live in this country and would not become a “public charge.”
It makes some sense to treat immigrants with AIDS as we would any other communicable disease, although this legislation seems to ignore that there is no cure for AIDS, which is a pretty salient issue. Coupled with the fact that one usually contracts this disease by engaging in homosexual sexual activity or intravenous drug use I’m not all that excited about the notion of opening up our healthcare system to HIV-infected foreign nationals and potentially putting more American citizens at risk of contracting an incurable and communicable disease. This isn’t a risk we need to voluntarily embrace.
It is not the responsibility of the American people to provide heathcare services here for the world’s population that is infected with HIV. We’re giving more money to AIDS research and treatment in other countries than the rest of the world combined, so the “we’re not compassionate” argument that typically gets foisted on us just doesn’t wash. The only thing we’re not doing is suffiently encouraging the behavioral changes that might actually do more to eradicate this disease than medicine is likely to effect in the next several decades, largely because of a misplaced sense of political correctness. We’d rather see people die from an infectious disease rather than prevent prostitution, perversion, and people shooting drugs into their veins.
That shouldn’t at all mean that our immigration policy should treat AIDS any differently than any other incurable communucable desease that an immigrant may be infected with. Anyone showing up on our shores who poses a public health risk to the American public should be barred from entry. There just don’t happen to be a whole lot of afflictions that fall into this category. In a practical sense, the only one that meets this criteria is AIDS.
The impetus behind this initiative isn’t that there’s some patent unfairness at work, it’s that this happens to affect a significant population of foreign homosexuals who want to avail themselves of some of our more colorful “alternative lifestyle” communities where they can find others than share their particular perversions. Ted Kennedy rightly understands that should these folks ever get a chance to vote, they’d vote for the candidates that Kennedy would like them to vote for. This, as usual is no exercise of principle, it is a long-term effort to build political power.
Think about how our Senate candidates would vote on this issue if elected. Who is going to represent you?
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I think the point of the report you cited seems to be that someone is trying to remove the stigma from this disease, as well they should. I do think that medical experts should make determinations on this issue; it makes sense that they have the most knowledge in this area.
I had a friend who died of AIDS. He contracted the disease in the 1980s when he had a series of blood transfusions. He was a little kid with hemophilia. I never found out about his condition until just before his death. He hid it for so long, most likely because so many people just assume that you did something wrong to contract HIV. As if ANYONE deserves to suffer from such a disease, no matter what they have done or not done…
I understand that engaging in unprotected male homosexual sex and sharing needles to inject drugs cause a large portion of HIV cases. However, here are a few statistics from Avert and the CDC:
As of 2006, heterosexual contact led to one-third of all HIV and AIDS diagnoses in the US.
As of 2006, 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses in the US were female.
In 2006, 223 people were diagnosed with HIV due to hemophilia, blood transfusion, or perinatal exposure.
You wrote of some ways to prevent HIV from spreading. In addition to the ones you mentioned, I would like to suggest sex and drug education, distribution of condoms, and access to quality healthcare as methods that have been found to work (see the CDC’s REP-Plus section on Replicating Effective Programs).
As for recruiting, I can’t seriously entertain the thought that this is all being done to get votes. What if you were a person who contracted HIV through a botched medical procedure, and you wanted to legally enter the United States? What if you were a hard-working, contributing, responsible citizen who took HIV meds and took care of your health? What if you were in a stable relationship and always used protection, and never used drugs? Would some people still see you as a deviant and think you weren’t worthy of this country?
Unfortunately, I think the answer is yes. Again, it is important to be educated and try to avoid risky situations, but I do not think that ANYONE deserves to be sick.
I have to ask the fundamental question, what is the reason that we allow people to come to this country? Is it because they want to, and we are just trying to fulfill their need? Is it because we don’t have enough people here already? I sometimes think that everyone forgets that coming to this country isn’t a right of humanity, it’s an act of graciousness from the country itself and the citizens within. We argue as if this country should have absolutely no say in who should be allowed to come here. Again, this sounds very similar to the arguments of those that oppose the rule of law, or any rules in general.
Thank you Anonymous! Well said.
“Under current law, HIV is the only medical condition explicitly listed…” What? That’s it?
Regardless of lifestyle, TB, Hepatitus, Cholera, Typhoid, Malaria, Dengue, Bubonic Plague–at a minimum–all of those should be on the list IN ADDITION TO HIV. Why in the world would we even give visas to people with those diseases, much less allow them into the immigration process?
As Michael Savage stated last night, the reason for this is that America is not satisfied with being a second world country. We need more AIDS patients and others with incurable dieseases to acheive third world status.
I heard an ad on the radio the other night for a denghi (sp) fever medication. Who the hell ever contracted that disease before in this country?
DG says, “[S]omeone is trying to remove the stigma from this disease, as well they should.” That’s a laudable goal, but do they have to try to accomplish it by allowing the sufferer of the disease into this country?
DiversityGal: It seems to me that there SHOULD be an HIV-AIDS stigma. After all, 99.99% of the time it is self-inflicted through irresponsible behavior. The Aids activists what us to think it could strike anyone at any time. That is a deliberate lie. It’s just a tactic to tie up more of our tax dollars on their behalf.
DG: No offense but are you parodying a clueless lefty?
Do we really want to be a magnet for AIDS sufferers the world wide? No.
AIDS is a virus and virus’ can mutate. What would we do if it becomes airborn?
Another rant sorry I just cannot resist because I think Illegal Immigration is the most serious problem facing this Nation. I hope I am wrong because I think Amnesty is coming and if I am right we are seeing the beginning of the end as a great Nation!
Ronald Reagan did indeed start many of the Problems plaguing the USA now. He signed the 1986 Amnesty engineered by the socialist, drunk and killer Ed Kennedy. Thereby, increasing the welfare and crime rate more than any single bill ever passed, (with the possible exception of probation on crime) while encouraged millions of uneducated peons & criminals to pour across our borders until now we have suffered the largest invasion in the history of the world. The 20 to 40 millions of uneducated illegal aliens currently residing in the USA is turning the USA into the largest Socialist Nation in the world. Each person with less than a high school education, Legal or Illegal is an net drain of 20k per year on the backs of American tax payers. The businesses employing the Illegal Aliens are in effect enjoying nearly slave labor while pocketing the profits and passing on the actual cost to American tax payers of not only his employees but all of their family members residing with them.
The cost for their Medical, Schooling and Welfare makes them the most expensive manual labor in the world. Now we have both Presidential candidates pandering for the Latino vote and promising Amnesty which will compound the problems allowing them to access even more social benefits!
Robert Rector at the Heritage Foundation has done the systematic accounting on all this. A typical household headed by a low-skilled illegal alien is a net drain of about $20k/year for the rest of us, year after year. (Low-skilled Americans are a similar burden, but they’re part of the national family, not gate crashers from other societies.)
The globalist, multiculturalism, open border advocates, liberals & businesses profiting from Illegal Aliens argument that they the Illegal Aliens pay tons of taxes, sure they all pay real estate taxes (in rent) and sales taxes (most states). Those working on the books approximately 35 % using stolen Social Security numbers or other fraudulent documents pay FICA and, perhaps, income taxes. But they’re mostly ill-educated and low-skilled and pay very low taxes connected to their working. In fact, most claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, i.e. negative income tax! Of course, the remaining 65% of the Illegal Aliens working off the books typical work for cash and pay nothing except real estate taxes (in rent) and sales taxes (most states).
The Latinos that make up the largest group of the Illegal Aliens population has the largest school drop out rate of any ethnic group in the USA, second highest illegitimate birth rate, second highest crime rate, highest birth rate and recent studies confirm they start dropping out of school, using drugs, having illegitimate kids, joining gangs at an early age then any ethnic group in the USA. This behavior continues even after citizenship and down through each generation. This culture characteristic explains why Mexico and Latino American, while having more natural resources and moderate climate than most First World Nations are still mired in an Cesspool of Crime, Corruption, Poverty and Misery!
Amnestying them & with chain immigration for their relatives and their relatives in an never ending chain will add 100,s of millions, a vast underclass of uneducated citizens that will make it impossible to continue the social network for American tax payers. When that occurs you will see riots, fires and pillage from coast to coast that will make the recent rioting in French by immigrants look like an picnic!
A recent study by the International Monetary fund confirms that remittance (transfer of money by immigrants to their home country) not only is bad for the remittance country but for the country receiving the money. It allows the home country (normally third world nations) from addressing the problems and improving their citizens standard of living and continue the same policies and keeping in power the corrupt government without facing an revolution and demands from citizens for improvements. So, our open borders and amnesty for the invading horde of illegal aliens is not only bad policy for this Nation but perpetrates the poverty and misery in the home countries.
Mexico for many years has encouraging their Criminals and Uneducated peons to pour across our borders and send money home while retaining loyally to the home country (illegal aliens are treated as heroes in their home countries) Mexico,s primary economic policy is to send their poverty to the USA for American tax payers to support while having one of the most punitive and enforced immigration policies in the world!
We are now seeing that the Illegal Aliens can not only impact this Nation but the global economy as well. Many of the Sub-Prime loans & defaults were to Illegal Aliens that started the unraveling of the Global Economy! Just like our Declining standard of living, Bankrupt Hospitals, Failing Schools, Welfare costs, Identity fraud, Welfare fraud, Voter fraud, Gangs, Crime, Crowded prisons, Destroyed communities, Exploding population, Congested roads, Pollution, Insurance costs, Balance of payments, (Imported oil etc. to support the illegal alien population) Trashed Constitution and the Rule of Law, they have spread their negative impact across the world.
It looks like with American heading into a very bad recession or more likely an depression, The 100,s of billions the Illegal Aliens are costing American tax payers for free medical, schooling, welfare etc. needs to be spend on American citizens, not invading criminals from third world counties, plus the 40 to 50 billions remittance by Illegal aliens needs to stay in the country to simulate this economy and force Mexico to address their problems!
All the more reason to not allow AIDS sufferers in. In addition to TB, leprosy and other diseases we thought we conquered that the Mexicans and Central Americans carry in.
monticup,
Any person who has ever had unprotected heterosexual sex would fall into the “irresponsible” category, I guess. After all, worldwide (including in this country) there are a lot of married people who catch it from partners who cheat. How irresponsible of them to trust their spouses, huh?
Are you comfortable with this stigma affecting victims of a cheating partner, as well as children, hemophiliacs and other recipients of blood transfusions, and rape victims? Is it acceptable for people to be prejudiced against them, since the majority of people, in your opinion, exhibited “irresponsible behavior” to contract their disease?
Also, Avert cites the stigma as one of the reasons why the disease spreads. People who are afraid of being stigmatized usually don’t get tested, don’t tell their partners if they do know their HIV status, don’t seek treatment that could keep their viral load very low, etc. Yes, on their part that’s irresponsible, but we could help by not standing in judgment and making them feel like outcasts. Education efforts can do, and have done a lot. Teaching people how to be responsible works better than shunning them.
All of this doesn’t mean that I believe the US is becoming or should become some sort of “magnet for AIDS sufferers.” I just applaud the decision to let the medical experts handle the medical issue…then the immigration experts can take the job the rest of the way. I did not get from the excerpt posted that every HIV or AIDS patient who wants to be a US citizen will get to. That is most likely MILES from the truth.
By the way, I’m a proud liberal Democrat. Thanks for asking, and no offense taken:)
jfk,
According the CDC, dengue fever is disease spread by mosquito vector in tropical areas. One of the prominently mentioned areas is the US territory of Puerto Rico. The CDC lists fact sheets so that travelers can protect themselves as much as possible. Since there are a great many citizens who travel for business, military, or vacation reasons to tropical areas of the world, it would be reasonable to assume that they have contributed to the spread of dengue fever in the US.
Actually, Greg, across large parts of Africa (where AIDS is one of the leading causes of death from disease) transmission is most common through *heterosexual* intercourse. AIDS is not a gay disease. It’s a disease that can and does afflict people of all walks of life.
monticup, it’s always nice to through around completely bogus statistics. I’d say that 99.9% of the figures you quote were pulled straight out of thin air (or some other, darker orifice). For many outside the United States, HIV/AIDS is the result not of their behavioral choices but the choices of others. Again, across large parts of Africa were AIDS is extremely prevalent, there are many women and children with AIDS who contracted the disease because the man of the house had unprotected sex with a prostitute then transmitted the disease to his unknowing wife who transmitted it to her in utero children. We can argue about whether the wife knowingly contracted the disease by her own actions, but clearly children born with AIDS certainly didn’t make any sort of lifestyle choice that led to their contracting the disease.
Why is AIDS so prevalent across Africa? Do you know how Uganda handled their AIDS problem? If not, research it. It all comes down to responsible behavior. Here in the US, AIDS is primarily a disease of gay men and IV drug abusers. Totally preventable. The AIDS activists are ginning up a lot of hysteria about it so as to obtain more and more funding.
Correction: I should have said promiscuous gay men.
Maybe I missed it, but no one has stated the obvious:
Most other countries also prevent the people from legally emigrating if they have contagious and/ or life-altering illnesses.
This is clearly a ploy to appeal to voters.
I heard something on the news this week that 60% of African-Americans have a genetic predisposition that makes them more susceptible to acquiring the AIDS virus. If that is indeed true, that fact alone would be reason enough to prevent HIV+ people from immigrating here. We need to protect our population.
Diversity Gal said on 17 Jul 2008 at 12:05 pm:
jfk,
“According the CDC, dengue fever is disease spread by mosquito vector in tropical areas. One of the prominently mentioned areas is the US territory of Puerto Rico. The CDC lists fact sheets so that travelers can protect themselves as much as possible. Since there are a great many citizens who travel for business, military, or vacation reasons to tropical areas of the world, it would be reasonable to assume that they have contributed to the spread of dengue fever in the US.”
Sounds like a gratuitous assertion to me. We don’t know how this disease has suddenly become prevalent here. Mosquitos don’t migrate, but people do. The insect may be responsible for spreading the disease regionally, but not for introducing it into an area.
Stigmas aside, Americans need to quit feeling “guilty” over denying entry to others to our country. We don’t need the financial burden of treating HIV, and we certainly don’t need to risk the spread of the disease in any manner.
Let’s play the guessing game:
Does Diversity Gal = Leila
or
= Charlotte
or
= El Guapo
Can anyone guess the right answer?
Come out, come out, wherever you are!!!
Diversity Gal-
I am sorry for your loss. I lost my brother to AIDS, who contracted it before there was a name for it. Regardless of how it is contracted, it is a horrible way to die. Nobody deserves that.
I agree that the U.S. should not accept immigrants with communicable diseases. Our health system is strained as it is. I also agree with JFK, we need to stop feeling guilty over denying entry to foreigners. What we need is healthy, educated, law abiding immigrants. We’ve got more than enough “huddled masses”.
The world is changing, folks. We need to button up and put our own needs first. When the food, water and fuel start to run low, how many of our “friends” will be sending us help? The same ones who offered to help after Katrina and Sept. 11?
“Mosquitos don’t migrate, but people do.”
It is theorized that the Asian Tiger mosquito, perhaps one of the most annoying variants of mosquito to be found in this area, arrived in Texas sometime between 1983 and 1985, most likely in a shipment of tires from Japan.
This is why it was a good thing Kerry didn’t make it to the white house!!
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jcyjiiL-Xte52ybd4uXibf0X0fsgD91UQ5K80
Brian Leeper said on 17 Jul 2008 at 4:41 pm:
“Mosquitos don’t migrate, but people do.”
It is theorized that the Asian Tiger mosquito, perhaps one of the most annoying variants of mosquito to be found in this area, arrived in Texas sometime between 1983 and 1985, most likely in a shipment of tires from Japan.
Not what I would call a migration, smartass.
I go by dictionary definitions, not jfk’s definitions since I have no idea what they are.
In the case of the mosquitos, definition #1 below applies.
Main Entry:
mi·grate Listen to the pronunciation of migrate Listen to the pronunciation of migrate
Pronunciation:
\ˈmī-ˌgrāt, mī-ˈ\
Function:
intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s):
mi·grat·ed; mi·grat·ing
Etymology:
Latin migratus, past participle of migrare; perhaps akin to Greek ameibein to change
Date:
1697
1 : to move from one country, place, or locality to another 2 : to pass usually periodically from one region or climate to another for feeding or breeding 3 : to change position in an organism or substance
— mi·gra·tion Listen to the pronunciation of migration \mī-ˈgrā-shən\ noun
— mi·gra·tion·al Listen to the pronunciation of migrational \-shnəl, -shə-nəl\ adjective
— mi·gra·tor Listen to the pronunciation of migrator \ˈmī-ˌgrā-tər, mī-ˈ\ noun
Apparently others refer to that as a migration:
“Migration of Exotic Pests: Phytosanitary Regulations and Cooperative Policies to Protect U.S. Ecosystems and Agricultural Interests”
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j10444m532725214/
I found a link to the whole paper:
http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/28548/1/wp01-07.pdf
“The insect may be responsible for spreading the disease regionally, but not for introducing it into an area.”
An insect can introduce a disease into an area but it needs help to do so, one example I’ve already mentioned is by “hitchhiking” in a shipment from that insect’s native habitat.
If those insects are carrying disease, then a disease migrated along with the insect and that may well introduce it into an area.
West Nile is believed to have entered the USA in an infected bird or mosquito. Nobody knows for sure. Was it an infected bird that was smuggled into the USA and subsequently escaped? Was it a mosquito that hitchhiked in a shipment of imported produce or other goods? Either of these are possibilities.
The bottom line, though, is that everytime someone or something crosses the border, there is a chance that they are bringing an exotic pest with them.
That’s just one of many reasons we need effective border controls.
Che’ said on 17 Jul 2008 at 1:43 pm:
Let’s play the guessing game:
I’m thinking Diversity Gal has “Unity in the Community” written all over her posts.
Unity in the Community…is that the faith-based organization in the area? I heard about it but haven’t been to any meetings. Why, do you think I would like it? Have you been to some meetings? I’m going to go look it up now…
Thanks!
I don’t know, DG, you tell me.
I looked last night, and I first found information on different organizations with this name in Los Angeles, South Jersey, Olympia, and somewhere in the UK. When I narrowed my search, I found the PWC group. It seems to have a pretty cool mission/purpose, so I may think about joining. I’ll have to contact someone about it to get some more info, though.