Oh wait, sorry! they are protecting us from terrorist musicians! er, wait... musicians who have names similar to terrorists!
U.S. Homeland Security Bars Famed Mexican Acoustic Group, Forcing Group to Cancel Sold Out U.S. Tour Dates
Government Says Rodrigo Sanchez Has Name Similar to Barred Foreigner
MEXICO CITY-A renowned Mexican guitarist, member of the ATO Recording artists Rodrigo Y Gabriela, has been hold (sic) up here for over two weeks since the United States Embassy declined to renew his P-1 Entertainer Visa. This unexpected situation has led to the cancellation of half a dozen U.S. shows on Rodrigo Y Gabriela's current tour, and put in jeopardy many other major concerts and promotional appearances.
The group, already stars in Europe and experiencing a surge here in the U.S., were heralded in the current issue of Rolling Stone as a "New Artist to Watch," and hailed in a recent Wall Street Journal feature as possibly "the next Buena Vista Social Club". Despite this, the duo has been unable to gain entrance into the U.S, forcing the cancellation of sold out concerts and a marquee slot at the world's largest music industry conference, South By Southwest, in Austin, TX.
The State Department has said the process to review the visa might take upwards of three months. The U.S embassy in Mexico City cannot approve Rodrigo's P-1 Entertainer Visa until it receives confirmation that he is not an individual with a similar name who is barred from receiving a visa, this despite the fact that Rodrigo has entered and exited the U.S. without any problem in the last nine months.
Don't you all feel much safer now? That scary Mexican guitar player with the name just like a terrorist won't be coming to your local music festival!
I've worked in the music industry on the artist touring side of the business for over 15 years (including extensive experience with foreign artists), so I can tell you first hand fewer and fewer artists are able to tour in the U.S. post 9/11. Those who do must pay "expedited" immigration fees as much as $3,000.00 and higher to get their work visas otherwise face delays of 4 months or more and risk having to cancel a tour if the visas aren't issued in time. And it doesn't get any easier if you've toured here several years in a row... same process all over again each time.
Any struggling musicians out there can tell you how difficult it is to get a slot at SXSW and the festival appearances Rodrigo Y Gabriela have had to cancel are major. I guess someone could argue it's not our responsibility to protect the business interests of a foreign person, but It's no exaggeration to say the actions of the State Dept. have done this group a considerable amount of damage. Not to mention the numerous U.S. companies who have now lost real amounts in the hard costs associated with promoting a concert or music festival.
"The excitement and energy associated with Rod and Gab since the release of this record has been phenomenal," said Chris Tetzeli, ATO Records' Founding Partner....snip.... "Now, just as we were about to launch into their first major US touring cycle accompanied by the release of their first video and a new single on radio, we have to slam on all the brakes. It is unfortunate to see this setback happen to a great record and a brilliant live act. We really felt this was getting ready to take off and we hope the situation can be resolved quickly."
So in the guise of protecting us from terrorists-- oh sorry "barred foreigners!" we are now being denied access to cultural performances. I haven't heard this group's music and have no idea if they are known for politically "subversive" lyrics or whatever, but it's sure interesting the timing of the denial of Rodrigo's visa just when they're about to finally break in the U.S.
"I feel frustrated because we wanted to play to our fans in the states, we have had a great response from them and from the media too." says Rodrigo. "I feel bad for our American label, ATO Records, they have been doing a great job and this has forced them to relocate their energies towards something that has nothing to do with the music industry. I have met some others musicians from different parts of the world that have, unfortunately, been through the same situation when they were about to start their tour in the States. This is nothing to do with being Latin or Arab or from wherever. This is a policy that some have chosen to support, these are internal security measure issues that have to be resolved by Americans themselves. We hope to be back into the States as soon as I'm cleared to do so and keep contributing to society by sharing music and our time with people and reinforcing the importance that art and culture have, have had and will have to all of us while we are alive."
The above quotes are from the ATO Records press release issued on 3/15/07, any emphasis added was mine. When searching for other links to this story I found most sources were carrying an AP piece which quoted the ATO press release at length but also had the following to add:
Their visa problems come amid controversy over heighten (sic) security checks and a "no fly" list of suspected terrorist and criminals that have led to people wrongly being prevented from boarding U.S.-bound flights or frequently being picked out for additional scrutiny.
In January the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush said it was checking the accuracy of the watch list and will probably cut it in half.
LINK
I haven't heard this particular bit of nonsense from BushCo and unfortunately my google skills aren't that advanced, has anyone else heard this promise to magically cut the terrorist "watch list" in half?