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Why does the US get away with this?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
Discrimination against HIV+ visitors
Under current US immigration law, any foreign national who tests positive for HIV is "inadmissible," meaning he is barred from permanent residence and even short-term travel in the United States.
United States is one of 13 countries in the world, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, which ban travel for individuals who are HIV-positive.
In July the European Commission quietly approved an agreement which gives the DHS unprecedented access to the personal information of anyone on a transatlantic flight, including details of their sexual orientation.

The DHS insists on the right to use the information for disease control, and there are fears that gay passengers may be singled out as possible HIV risks.

The plans involve upgrading information which is already sent by airlines to the DHS on the 4-million-plus Britons who visit the US every year, including payment details, home address and the passengers in-flight meal choice.

The agreement adds 19 possible new categories, including information on ethnic origin, political and philosophical opinions, credit card numbers, trade union membership, sex life and details of the passengers' health.

The information will be provided by passengers when making bookings.

The US is not required to provide this information about its citizens.

If the US isn't 'required' to provide such information we shouldn't be...

And if the US is going to insist on keeping company with Saudi Arabia and Iran with backward and discriminatory entry policies we should respond - a £200 tax on every passenger flying to Florida would do the trick... the Americans wouldn't just sit back and watch the destruction of Florida's tourist reliant economy.. If the Americans can discriminate against HIV+ people I don't see why we shouldn't discriminate against people who want to Florida by putting them off with a tax.

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Bastards.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Meh. Just don't go. I won't.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Discrimination against HIV+ visitors







    If the US isn't 'required' to provide such information we shouldn't be...

    And if the US is going to insist on keeping company with Saudi Arabia and Iran with backward and discriminatory entry policies we should respond - a £200 tax on every passenger flying to Florida would do the trick... the Americans wouldn't just sit back and watch the destruction of Florida's tourist reliant economy.. If the Americans can discriminate against HIV+ people I don't see why we shouldn't discriminate against people who want to Florida by putting them off with a tax.

    Hey we discriminate against everyone. We are an equal oppotunist discriminating country:D ...Are you forgetting who runs out country? bunch of imbeciles with the combined IQ of an hairy ass.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Easy answer, just don't go.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Why doesn't the EU retaliate by demanding the same information on US passengers travelling to Europe?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Discrimination against HIV+ visitors







    If the US isn't 'required' to provide such information we shouldn't be...

    And if the US is going to insist on keeping company with Saudi Arabia and Iran with backward and discriminatory entry policies we should respond - a £200 tax on every passenger flying to Florida would do the trick... the Americans wouldn't just sit back and watch the destruction of Florida's tourist reliant economy.. If the Americans can discriminate against HIV+ people I don't see why we shouldn't discriminate against people who want to Florida by putting them off with a tax.

    Why punish the tourists, surely you should be calling for reciprocal measures :confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    To be honest I think the way to get the EU to back down on this (and the major risk involved) is ID theft, you are handing someone your name, address, passport details, credit card numbers plus loads of other information - if its not 101% secure its the perfect set up for people wanting to commit fraud.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    J wrote: »
    Would we say anything if they banned people with bubonic plague? I doubt it, and to be fair AIDS is far more deadly. It's an avoidable risk, why shouldn't they at least attempt to halt its spread?

    That comparison is totally false, someone with the plague would be quite likely to infect someone on the plane or while they were in the US. Someone with HIV is not inherantly infectious.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BlackArab wrote: »
    Why punish the tourists, surely you should be calling for reciprocal measures :confused:

    You mean ban HIV+ visitors? Why should we stoop to the same level as Saudi Arabia, Sudan - and the US? This is an issue of discrimination - and it should be ended: banning HIV+ US visitors would never achieve that, the US wouldn't give a toss... The prospect of Florida's tourist industry being wrecked on the other hand would almost certainly make them listen.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    J wrote: »
    Would we say anything if they banned people with bubonic plague? I doubt it, and to be fair AIDS is far more deadly.

    :yeees:
    budda wrote: »
    That comparison is totally false, someone with the plague would be quite likely to infect someone on the plane or while they were in the US. Someone with HIV is not inherantly infectious.

    :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You mean ban HIV+ visitors? Why should we stoop to the same level as Saudi Arabia, Sudan - and the US? This is an issue of discrimination - and it should be ended: banning HIV+ US visitors would never achieve that, the US wouldn't give a toss... The prospect of Florida's tourist industry being wrecked on the other hand would almost certainly make them listen.
    I would carry out all kind of security checks, data gathering, fingerprinting and DNA swabbing on every single US citizen attempting to enter Britain- and indeed the EU.

    Let's see how long they keep the ban.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    EU are useless twats shocker:shocking:
    In July the European Commission quietly approved an agreement
    The US is not required to provide this information about its citizens.

    Does anyone still believe that the EU is anything but a waste of time and money?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    cheeta wrote: »
    Why doesn't the EU retaliate by demanding the same information on US passengers travelling to Europe?

    Because wouldn't that be childish? If we've got standards we should stick to them. This is only going to put people going off to the US whether they have HIV or not.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You are talking about Americans discriminating against HIV people, every country discriminates in one form or another. Isn't the uk talking about charging fat people more money for flights? here is a small article about new zealand. I don't see you saying anything about "why does New Zealand get away with this".


    First Australian health experts suggest that fat passengers should pay more to fly, then New Zealand authorities ban a British woman from entering the country because she was too heavy. Outrageous.

    bottomline is this! can't we all just get along? lol:D :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You mean ban HIV+ visitors? Why should we stoop to the same level as Saudi Arabia, Sudan - and the US? This is an issue of discrimination - and it should be ended: banning HIV+ US visitors would never achieve that, the US wouldn't give a toss... The prospect of Florida's tourist industry being wrecked on the other hand would almost certainly make them listen.

    Fair comment about the reciprocal measures, I still think the idea of penalising tourists to the US as being fair. When my Father lived in the States I regularly visited. Paying extra would not have stopped me going just made my life more difficult and expensive.

    The other thing is Britain is not exactly innocent when it comes unfair measures against foreign tourists so we are once again in no position to complain too much about the Yanks.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    EU are useless twats shocker:shocking:





    Does anyone still believe that the EU is anything but a waste of time and money?
    Actually when it comes to relations between Britain/EU and the US, it is usually Britain that is completely useless and happily surrenders all manners of rights unilaterally, and then gets the pissed taken out of it by the US. The EU has stepped in on more than one ocassion to stand up to the US' bully tactics to save Britain's bacon (the steel tariffs being one example).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote: »
    Actually when it comes to relations between Britain/EU and the US, it is usually Britain that is completely useless and happily surrenders all manners of rights unilaterally, and then gets the pissed taken out of it by the US. The EU has stepped in on more than one ocassion to stand up to the US' bully tactics to save Britain's bacon (the steel tariffs being one example).

    You mean the tarrifs where we decided not to take the US offer the exemption out of solidarity with the EU... (Not that it mattered virtually no UK steel gos to the US)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Naturally the UK was right not to take any one-off offer of exemption, since the US will always take the piss elsewhere and the UK is part of the EU. Point being, in more than one ocassion it has been because of the muscle/willingness to stand up to America shown by the EU that Britain has got a far better deal that it would have otherwise. The US is fully aware of the status of the EU and should know better than trying to split it and offer false-economy deals to individual members.

    Incidentally if virtually no British steel goes to the US why was the association of British Steel manufacturers so grateful to the European Union?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    Because wouldn't that be childish? If we've got standards we should stick to them. This is only going to put people going off to the US whether they have HIV or not.

    I don't think its childish to stand up for yourself. Obviously try reasoning with them first, if not harsher tactics may be needed. And the fact that it will put people off travelling is cold comfort - as one other poster pointed out, some people have family in America. This is going to make their lives difficult when all they want to do is visit their relations.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Aladdin wrote: »
    Incidentally if virtually no British steel goes to the US why was the association of British Steel manufacturers so grateful to the European Union?


    Why antagonise people with whom your negotiating on environmental measures?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,875,648 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We can moan all we like on this side of the Atlantic, but until there's a change of opinion in the USA demanding that the rules be changed, nothing will happen.
    Does anyone still believe that the EU is anything but a waste of time and money?
    Well, it's an institution that hasn't had its accounts cleared for the last 13 years. If any private company was run like that, it would have been investigated, its directors jailed and the company most likely shut down. But as this is the EU, normal rules do not apply. It's high time that Britons had a referendum on whether we want to stay in the EU. Let's have an honest, full debate about the pros and cons of membership - no more of the lies peddled to us by politicians of all parties. That's the referendum which Macavity should be giving us.

    The only reason politicians like the EU is that it helps them out. It's self-interest.
    Say that you're a failed Labour politician, nicknamed Mandy, who's been sacked twice from the cabinet... what more natural a route to take than become an EU commissioner?
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