U.S. Border Officials Apologize to (British author Ian) McEwan

[KamaAina]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=529&ncid=529&e=13&u=/ap/20040421/ap_en_ot/people_ian_mcewan_2

An American inspector kept him from boarding the plane on the grounds that the speaking fees McEwan was to receive for his appearances — $5,000 in Seattle alone — were too large to qualify as honoraria.

After a 24-hour flurry of activity that included legislators, border officials realized there's no rule limiting the size of honoraria one may receive. McEwan was admitted the next afternoon and arrived in Seattle an hour before his appearance.

But McEwan and an immigration attorney who represented him during the holdup worried that he might be delayed entering the country again because his passport is stamped to note he was refused admittance to the United States.

"That doesn't make coming to the United States again massively attractive," McEwan said. "But I have many friends in the U.S., and it is a country that I adore, so I don't want to sulk about this. I want to do something about it."

Gee, things must be tough at the nuclear power plant if Homer has to moonlight as a customs inspector! :-)

And we wonder why international tourism is down sharply -- a definite sore point in my city where some Waikiki stores accept Japanese yen at the cash register...

[Hamlette]

1. he is my all time favorite author

if you've not read him, pick up Atonement, Enduring Love or Amsterdam.

Well worth 5K

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. He's also one of Laura Bush's favourites (sorry)

which, I suspect, is why he got an apology rather than a 'screw you'.

[chikin]

3. As someone...

...who has crossed into the US a number of times on various visas, I can attest to the lack of knowledge of some of the USCIS officials at the border.

But it's hard to fault the inspectors themselves--there are thousands upon thousands of regulations, many of which are inherently contradictory. They change so frequently that no one would ever be able to keep them all straight. There is the standard set of immigration law, but on top of that are directives from the various head offices that deem how certain regulations are to be interpreted. It's an administrative spaghetti bowl.

Although the article does not specifically say, I'm guessing that the reason for refusal was that the inspector interpreted the large honorarium value as a 'salary', which would mean he believed that McEwan was entering to work without a valid visa.

Thinking of it cynically, 'Look! The USCIS is protecting Americans' jobs by preventing people coming into the country to work illegally! I'm so glad those protections are in place at the border!' :-P