Immigrants, Immigration Law, and Tuberculosis

Current U.S. immigration law provides for the exclusion of all aliens who are "determined ... to have a communicable disease of public health significance. In addition to numerous sexually transmitted diseases such as infectious syphilis and gonorrhea, "communicable diseases of public health significance" include infectious tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The first portion of this Article provides a brief overview of the history and epidemiology of tuberculosis, as well as the diagnosis and management of the disease. The Article next reviews current information on tuberculosis in immigrant populations and proceeds to a discussion of U.S. immigration processes relating to the excludability of non-U.S. citizens due to tuberculosis.

Finally, the Article concludes with various recommendations for addressing the inadequacies of current methods for addressing tuberculosis within immigrant communities.