I'll give Ellen and her tour organizers the benefit of the doubt and assume
they did apply for a work visa...considering she had some important dates in
the U.S., I doubt she would have tried to enter the country without applying
for the official paperwork.
My comment about her records was saying that, regardless if she had the
proper documentation, they could still deny her entry simply because of what
she was (although it's possible there was another reason like a criminal
record, but I suppose only Ellen and the agents know that).
I'm not sure how it works in the U.S., but in Canada we have
artiost/entertainers visas that you can obtain for specific dates (unlike a
one year work visa). The catch with these is that you send all the paperwork
to the place where you will be entering the country, but you're not actually
approved until you get there. Meaning an artist can get to the border and
not find out whether their application has been accepted or denied until
they arrive.
But even if Ellen had a one year visa and this had been set up through an
American consulate in Germany, it's still ultimately the decision of those
agents who question her when she arrives to let her into the country, $1000
approved visa or not. :-/
From: robin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: 313@hyperreal.org
Subject: (313) Customs was Re: (313) no (ellen) alliens in nyc
Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 09:37:46 +0100
so, if you dj off a laptop you don't have the dead give away records and
you get through customs as a tourist.
or am i missing summink?
robin...
On 17 May 2004, at 23:58, Carissa Tintinalli wrote:
My guess is that we'll start seeing even more artists getting denied entry
into the U.S. Hopefully this won't affect Movement anymore, but I wouldn't
be suprised if it did.
The INS announced a couple of months ago that it was going to get stricter
with work visas for artists and entertainers. They feel that this would be
an easier route for terrorists to enter the country, seeing as the
requirements aren't as strict as those to obtain a permanent work visa
(i.e. needing a college degree or official certification in your field).
But even beyond those reasons, the INS has more power than many realize to
deny people, and for a variety of reasons. If Ellen Allien had even some
misdemeanor charge for jaywalking on her record, they could use that as
reason to turn her back. Actually, they don't even need a reason. They
could have just thought "female techno dj from Germany travelling with all
these records.......hmmmm....this doesn't appeal to my conservative
outlook. DENIED!".
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