One of the differences between legal and illegal immigration is that immigrants who come here legally are screened to determine whether they fall into one of the classes of migrants who are ineligible for admission into the United States. The term “immigrant” means any alien who has not been classified as a nonimmigrant visitor.
This screening isn’t just to identify immigrants who are inadmissible because they are criminals or terrorists; it also identifies immigrants who “have a communicable disease of public health significance.” A medical examination is required of immigrants who are seeking admission to the United States.
It isn’t feasible to require nonimmigrant visitors to have medical examinations. Among other difficulties, there are too many of them — approximately 132 million nonimmigrants were admitted in fiscal 2023.
