IMMIGRANT RIGHTS AND HIV/AIDS

Victoria Neilson and Sarah Sohn

Immigration Equality

Prevention Justice Seminar

November 3, 2004

Click here for PRESENTATION SUMMARY
Click here for READING LIST

Victoria Neilson is the Executive Director of Immigration Equality (formerly the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force). Immigration Equality is a coalition of immigrants, attorneys and other activists who address the widespread impact of discriminatory immigration laws on the lives of those in the gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender community and immigrants who are living with HIV/AIDS.

She received her juris doctorate from the City University School of Law and her bachelor's degree from Harvard University. Prior to joining LGIRTF, Ms. Neilson was the litigation director at the HIV Law Project, where she worked for over eight years. Ms. Neilson also represented clients in housing and benefits matters, and conducted bench and jury trials. In addition to her direct representation experience,

Ms. Neilson was also co-counsel on the federal class action lawsuit Henrietta D. v. Bloomberg, a landmark case holding that New York City violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to reasonably accommodate New Yorkers disabled by AIDS in providing them access to essential benefits including welfare, Medicaid and housing.

Ms. Neilson is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the National Lawyers Guild, the Lesbian and Gay Law Association of Greater New York, the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, where she sits on the AIDS Committee. Ms. Neilson also volunteers as a Small Claims Court arbitrator in the Harlem Community Justice Center.

Sarah Sohn is a Legal Fellow with Immigraiton Equality, researching the treatment of
HIV-positive detainees.

Recommended Readings
Immigrant Rights and HIV/AIDS

1. Alisa Solomon, "Locked Up in Limbo"--a good introductory article on HIV &
detention. Available at: www.poz.com/index.cfm?p=article
&art_id=1435

2. Jonathan Rauch, "Bad Blood"--a more recent article from earlier this
year, making the case against the HIV ban. Available at:
www.reason.com/rauch/011204.shtml

3. Sections on HIV and Immigration from the Immigration Equality Asylum Handbook (dated 2000), which is available at:
www.immigrationequality.org/handbook.html

4. ‘Building Alliances Between Immigrant Rights and Queer Movements’ by Luibheid, E., Khokha, S. In ‘Forging Radical Alliances Across Difference, Coalition Politics for the New Millenium’ (2001), Bystydzienski, J.M., Schacht, S.P. (eds); Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc.: Maryland U.S.

5. The San Francisco AIDS Foundation online manual - helpful for activists who work with HIV+ noncitizens:
www.sfaf.org/policy/immigration/index.html