Life takes a visa
Issue #31
Post 9/11 immigration policies are tougher than ever, but is the United States doing itself more harm by denying visas to foreign artists?
By Kelly Mellott
Published: March 1st, 2007 | 12:00am
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door,” declares the quote at the base of the Statue of Liberty, proudly lighting the way to U.S. shores.
But since 9/11, with the changes made by the Bush administration to immigration policies and even plans for a giant wall to be built along the U.S./Mexico border, it seems that Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty may be losing touch. These new policies and regulations will undoubtedly affect every American — foreign friends and family or not. Many U.S. citizens are unaware of the vast and exceedingly important contributions by foreign writers, artists, performers, musicians, filmmakers, and scientists and perhaps won’t notice until they are removed from their lives completely.
Bush signed the Enhanced Border Security and Reform Act in May 2002, which makes visa acceptance for America’s “group of seven” incredibly difficult. The seven nations in this category are Syria, Iran, Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Cuba, and North Korea. An extensive second list has been issued since, especially targeting Muslim countries, and includes Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Morocco.
One hard-hit group is one rarely thought of — foreign artists, musicians, and performers who are shut out, denied work visas, and therefore denied the ability to tour and access American audiences.
“Especially in our post-9/11, anti-terrorism times, with an already confounding, convoluted maze of bureaucracy made more complicated by additional layers of security, it is more important than ever to understand rules and components of the visa application process,” writes Bill Martinez, an immigration lawyer who specializes in visas for performers. “The petitioner must carefully review the process, consider the economic realities, embargo-related legal limitations and, finally, the whims of the State Department’s exercise of discretion for our ‘national interest,’ before petitioning.”
Thrill Jockey Records founder Bettina Richards never imagined visa approval would be as difficult as it turned out to be for her label’s benga music (a popular Kenyan guitar-heavy dance music) group Extra Golden when the quartet was invited to play at the 2006 World Music Festival in Chicago. With two American members (Alex Minoff and Ian Eagleson) and two Kenyan members (Opiyi Bilongo and Onyango Wuod Omari), the group decided to schedule a U.S. tour in addition to performing at the festival. But the undeniably intense visa application process would turn out to be an unforgettable nightmare.
Extra Golden began the process to obtain two three-month performer visas in May 2006 for the two Kenyan members; the festival took place in September 2006. There are three main types of work visas that artists can apply for performance and tour: Type O-1 visas are for internationally recognized artists, Type P1 for internationally acclaimed performers, and Type P3 for culturally unique performers. Extra Golden fits into the latter category.
By August, Thrill Jockey and Extra Golden were still unsure whether Bilongo and Omari would be approved in time for his already-booked flight. They had turned in all the necessary paperwork, including letters of recommendation from the City of Chicago and music experts on the importance of the Kenyan genre in addition to a contract with the festival, an itinerary for the tour, and their passport information. Yet, they still hadn’t heard from the USCIS (The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) and there was nothing they could do but wait.
Now, Extra Golden’s guitarist, Alex Minoff, decided to take matters into his own hands by contacting Illinois Senator Barack Obama by phone to explain the situation with the small hope that he would be willing to help. “I [paced] around my apartment for two months pretending to have this conversation,” Minoff said, laughing. “I rambled on and fit about five minutes of information into one and when I was done there was just a pause of silence on the other end. And then [Obama’s representative] said, ‘I think we can help you.’”
Minoff’s work paid off and Obama, who is of Kenyan descent, agreed to help and personally wrote a letter of recommendation for Extra Golden. But it still wasn’t enough. Bilongo and Omari was approved for visas but still faced interviews at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya. During this interview, one is questioned to make sure he plans to return to his home country and not stay permanently in the United States. In order to prove this, the interviewee must show proof such as property ownership, business affiliations, or family still in the country. After extensive complications, they were finally given the OK — thanks to a midnight phone call made to the Embassy by one of Obama’s representatives — only hours before his flight. The whole complicated ordeal took three and a half months and cost Thrill Jockey more than $4,000.
“The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Senator Obama were essential. It illustrates the challenges of getting [foreign performers] over here,” Richards said. “Think how challenging it was for a band with a letter of recommendation from the city of Chicago and a prominent U.S. Senator. Imagine how difficult it would be if you didn’t.”
Extra Golden are by no means the only foreign performers to have visa issues. M.I.A., the Klaxons, and writer Margaret Atwood are just three of many artists who have experienced difficulty obtaining visas. Some have been outright denied for one reason or another — for instance, not being considered culturally unique or the inability to prove no intent to immigrate permanently. Cuban origin is another issue altogether. Since most Cuban artists are compensated by the Cuban government, they are technically considered its employees. Current U.S. policies generally do not allow entry into the country by employees of the Cuban government, regardless of status or uniqueness. All 22 Cuban musicians, set to perform at the 2002 Latin Grammy Awards were flat-out denied. Renowned pianist Chucho Valdés was issued his visa for an exclusive Carnegie Hall concert, featuring the top five pianists in the world, three weeks too late, though he had been in the U.S. performing only weeks before. In a public document, the State Department stated, “We realize that Mr. Valdés was just in New York recently. But, you never know, he may have developed anti-U.S. feelings while he was back in Cuba even if he was only back in Havana for a few days.”
Is the United States being unjust with its complicated, strict, and expensive application process? “As long as one is organized and plans ahead, I think the systems are generally fair,” Martinez said. “It’s easy to blast the immigration system for denying this artist or that artist, but I think you either are culturally unique as an artist or you’re not.”
But after going through the ordeal, Minoff doesn’t exactly agree. Due to the extreme costs of the process, he recognizes the impossibilities that arise for artists from nations with lower economic capabilities, as was the case for his band’s Kenyan counterparts. Without the monetary support of Thrill Jockey, Extra Golden could not have ever obtained Bilongo's visa. “The issue is not so much cultural diversity but class diversity,” he said. “People talk about this country being divided by race, but it’s not. It’s divided by class. It’s economics and it’s money. That to me is the biggest thing. To say it’s unfortunate would be an understatement. It’s just kind of depressing.”
After hearing the different sides of the story, it’s hard to say for certain what could or should be done to improve the situation while protecting national security and necessary immigration policies.
“It’s a shame because I think one of the ways you can reduce incidents of cultural clashes is through cultural understanding,” says Richards. “And the arts and music are a great way to promote it and make people seem less strange to each other. To put hurdles on that is really counter productive to what we all want to do.”
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