Last summer the Surgeon General of the United States announced that homosexuality would no longer be considered a "disease or mental defect" under the statute directing the Public Health Service to examine aliens suspected for a physical or mental affliction requiring exclusion from the United States. The Surgeon General also advised INS officers that PHS would no longer make such a medical examination of aliens referred by INS. Subsequently. the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice advised the Acting Director of INS that the Surgeon Generals action could not change immigration law even though the PHS would no longer certify arriving homosexual aliens as possessing a "mental defect or disease" solely because of their homosexuality. The practical result is that inexpert immigration officers acting alone will make the determination that an arriving alien is to be denied entry on the grounds of homosexuality. The Department of Justice today is preparing enforcement guidelines for immigration officers. This situation is absurd. The original 1952 statute in respect to homosexuals was an unwise and discriminatory law.
Identified stereotypes
Homosexuality is considered a mental defect or disease.