IMPORTANT PETITION to ease visa regulations

[Lew Taylor]

Mairi Rankin.  Her "banishment" has also hurt the other musicians from the
band Beolach.

Lew Taylor

On Sun, Jul 26, 2009 at 11:50 AM, Richard Block <RICH at franklinpierce.edu>wrote:

> Does anyone know who the fiddler and driver this petition mentions are?
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> PLEASE SIGN A PETITION to ease visa regulations that are choking off
> cultural exchanges:
>
> Recently, a Cape Breton fiddler was interrogated at the Maine border for 4
> hours and then banned for life from visiting the US; all her events were
> cancelled. Same with her driving companion, who was banned for "attempting
> to smuggle an illegal alien" into the US. The guards had searched her laptop
> computer to find contacts with people about workshops and small performances
> -- she had no contracts, just an expectation of earning something for
> sharing her expertise here. She was told she could apply for a waiver but
> Homeland Security informed her they only give waivers to convicted
> criminals.
>
> This is not a new situation, and things have gone too far: festivals such
> as Boston College's Gaelic Roots Festival have died due to increased
> difficulty in obtaining visas. Cultural exchange is being choked--Irish,
> Hispanic, Asian, African-- because visa regulations focus entirely on
> commerce--no one is permitted to earn a penny including pocket money or
> accommodations without a work visa. Musicians are treated like major
> security risks. The problem is that cultural exchange is not about commerce;
> it's about demonstrating and teaching cultural traditions across borders.
> It's often prohibitive to pay visa fees, provide a firm itinerary with no
> permission to change it more than 95 days in advance of visa approval, or
> pay $1000 rush fee if approval is needed sooner than 95 days. This is not a
> problem for big bands doing tours, but impossible for short visits by
> experts to schools, house concerts, music camps, community dances, and small
> venues.
>
> You can help--sign the petition for CEFTA, the Cultural Exchange Free Trade
> Agreement, which I have written in consultation with people on both sides of
> the border and plan to present to Sen Snowe and others. The more signatures,
> the more seriously they will take this.
>
> You can read info and sign the petition at
> http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/cefta -- Thanks and please pass the
> word!
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://www.cbmusic.com
>
>