Sunday, September 16, 2007

Our broken immigration system

US Musical tours by British musician are being cancelled due to immigration visa problems, reports the Wall Street Journal. Apparently, foreign music acts need a "P-1" class visa to get in the US. To get such a visa, the musicians must prove to a US bureaucrat "that they have been 'internationally recognized' for a 'sustained and substantial' amount of time." This is not easy for new and trendy acts. British pop star Lily Allen failed to achieve P-1 status and was therefore denied a visa to perform at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Ms. Allen's mistake was that she tried to apply legally. If she had just crossed the border illegally undocumented, Pres. Bush and others in Washington would want to offer her not merely a travel visa but full citizenship.

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