[FA Worldmusic] immigration woes part 2: who will be next?!?

[Gerald Seligman]

A case like Papa Wemba's, in which, as Mark reports, he used artist visas to
smuggle in illegal immigrants for personal profit, has made it more
difficult for honest artists to get their visas. No one interested in an
equitable visa system should weep over Wemba's fate. He's earned it. As for
Boy George, sure there are debatable issues, but with so many artists of our
own underrepresented in the debate, surely we can be a bit more selective.
Ol' Boy George has got the money to defend himself. Kasai Allstars and
Konono don't. The financial strain of the last-minute denial of their visas
and the cancellation of their tour might well spell financial ruin for
Michel Winter's Divano Production, one of the best, most committed,
longest-running agencies around.

Gerald Seligman


On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 7:35 PM, Bill Smith <bill at eyefortalent.com> wrote:

> To put this into perspective, I am aware of numerous European and
> Canadian denials of visas\/entry for less serious criminal
> activity/accusations than the two mentioned. My concern is the
> bureacratic ineptness/procedure of the USCIS and the simple fact that if
> your petition falls off someone's desk onto the floor, there is no one to
> speak to about  their carelessness. That petition can remain on the floor
> for months. The only way to inquire into that situation is to pay  $1000
> to speak to the live, nude woman in the window. The USCIS calls that
> personal touch Premium Processing. Bill
> Smith                                     www.eyefortalent.comPOB
> 280786                                 650-595-2274San Francisco, CA
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> Bsmith178                           UK tel
> 44-20-800-29364-----------------------
> Original Message ----------------------- From: "Mark D. Moss / Sing Out!"
> <mark at singout.org>To: fa-worldmusic at folk.orgDate: Wed, 25 Jun 2008
> 13:10:31 -0400Subject: Re: [FA Worldmusic] immigration woes part 2: who
> will be next?!? At 08:28 PM 6/24/2008, Timothy Bisig wrote:
> >http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/24/boygeorge.visa/index.html
> >
> >will the madness never end?
>
> I've just gotten my 6th press release about Boy George's visa
> troubles, and I've got to say that I'm less than enthused by the
> prospects of having our *very* real and serious barriers to cultural
> exchange adopt this story -- or, for that matter Papa Wemba's visa
> trouble following his conviction for illegal immigrant smuggling --
> as any kind of cause celeb. I do get that Boy George is innocent
> until proven guilty, but the charges against him ("imprisoning a man
> in his home") certainly seem pretty serious, and I *can* understand
> why he could be seen as legitimate cause to deny him the visa. (It's
> certainly not "madness." Please.)
>
> Doesn't taking up this argument empower the isolationists who can
> easily brush this off with a chuckle and a simple "of course"? I'd
> rather focus the discussion on the serious artists -- without pending
> criminal charges -- who are being denied visas or who are being
> extorted for crippling processing fees, etc. Is it just me? Or do
> others agree that we lose every time we let the story shift to
> examples where reasonable people likely couldn't figure out why
> denying such a visa is a problem?
> _____________________________________
> Mark D. Moss / Sing Out!
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