Earlier this week the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that Ernesto Priego, a doctoral candidate at the University College, London, was denied a visa to enter the country in order to attend next weekend’s International Comics Arts Forum:
Mr. Priego, a native of Mexico who had visited the United States before and is studying at the British university’s School of Library, Archive, and Information Studies, had been scheduled to speak at the International Comic Arts Forum, on October 19 in Washington. His topic was to be the origin of comics.
Shortly before he hoped to leave for the United States, however, he learned that the U.S. government had refused to renew his visa, for unknown reasons. A State Department official declined to comment on the case.
Mr. Priego’s situation resembles the fate of dozens of foreign academics who, in the years since the September 11 terrorist attacks, have been unable to obtain U.S. visas. The trend has prompted lawsuits, and critics say the Bush administration is using post-9/11 security measures to keep out foreign scholars whose politics or ideas it does not like.
Tom has more details, as does ICAF Chairman Marc Singer.
Update: As noted in the comments section, Priego has since stated on Singer’s post that he was not denied entry, his visa simply wasn’t renewed.
October 12th, 2007 at 10:00 am
In the interest of accurate reporting, this post from Ernesto Priego on ICAF Chairman Marc Singer’s blog:
“I appreciate the post, but I would like to say that I wasn’t “denied entry”; my visa was not renewed, most probably because I did not apply for it in person and did not submit enough documents proving what I’d be doing in the States. So they didn’t know I was going to a conference. I had just applied for a normal renewal.
I don’t want to make any further public comments on this matter, but I wanted to publicly clarify the distinction between being denied entry as a scholar and not having gotten the paper renewed. Information travels very fast on the Internet, and sometimes it gets distorted as it flies over the seas of bits and pixels.
I am, of course, profoundly sorry I won’t be able to attend ICAF…”
October 12th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Steve, Chris’s reporting is accurate. So is Anna Weggel’s, so is Tom Spurgeon’s, and so was my statement.
Ernesto Priego was denied entry into the US, through the denial of the renewal of his visa, with no explanation. I appreciate his conciliatory tone, but he’s still been denied entry and will not have the opportunity to present his scholarship in person. His exclusion is still an infringement on academic freedom–for Ernesto Priego, for ICAF and its attendees, and for anybody who would like to hear his work in the US.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Marc - Chris’s original report was based on the Chronicle’s version of the story, which implies an overt blocking action by the US government. From Priego’s explanation, he didn’t follow the rules, so his visa didn’t get renewed. You appreciate his conciliatory tone, but it doesn’t fit your view of the US government’s evil agenda, so never mind the facts. Even though he insists that it was his mistake, you insist that it’s an example of the US government limiting freedom. Of course, ICAF wouldn’t get much press from a story titled “Red tape prevents scholar from attending US conference”. Nice try, though.