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Friday, January 18, 2008

Nigerian theatre group prevented from attending Dallas festival

By Marisa Treviño of Latina Lista

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The 13th International Theatre Festival staged by Teatro Dallas and the South Dallas Cultural Center will take place February 1-8 at different venues around the city.

Always noted for bringing bold, new performance groups from other countries, the festival organizers try to showcase enough geographic diversity to make it really interesting.

Too bad the government isn’t cooperating.

This year’s festival was supposed to have a group from Nigeria performing “Madmen and Specialists.” Supposed to, but as of today they’ve been removed from the program.

Maybe the title of the performance scared officials. Who knows?

What we do know is that the Nigerians had to drop out because they had trouble getting their visas to enter the U.S.

Granted, this is not the first instance since 9/11 that artists, authors or other notable “foreigners” have been denied permission to enter our country because of visa problems.

For the most part, we haven’t paid too much attention, or really cared about all these other people’s inconveniences at the hands of our Department of Homeland Security — but that may be changing.

In two weeks, anyone coming back from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean will need more than a driver’s license to get back into the country if they’re traveling by land or sea.

The new restrictions are part of a law that was passed back in 2004 called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

The same law that last year mandated that everyone needed to present a passport to renter the United States if traveling by air.

In an attempt to standardize procedures, it’s now turn for car drivers and cruise ship/boaters to do the same.

Gone are the days along the Canadian and American border of just declaring “I’m an American,” to get through the drive checkpoints.

That’s so old school now. A passport or the new passport card (which will be available starting Feb. 1) is preferred. If border crossers only have a driver’s license, they better have other papers handily tucked away too to prove their identity.

From all the news reports, officials who live along both sides of the Canada-US border don’t like the new rules. Ironic that when US-Mexico border residents complained about the restrictions, no one from up north uttered a peep.

Just goes to show no one complains about something until it impacts them directly. Yet, it has started a debate in the north, that’s been festering in the south, as to whether these measures really keep the country safe or just provide an illusion of safety.

For Dallasites, one thing is certain: country security is keeping us from enjoying the performance of one Nigerian group.

Though the festival, in true show biz tradition, is adhering to the saying — “The show must go on,” it’s an adage that the DHS obviously honors as well.


Pegasus News content partner - Latina Lista

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Comments

Scott Doyle

Scott Doyle Verified

I'm sure Irving and Farmers Branch had a hand in this..somehow...

Any elaboration on what exactly the visa problems were? It's not uncommon for people to have trouble with this, btw...and it's certainly not a recent development that you have to obtain a visa to get here from a country not bordering us.

I'm guessing border officials dislike the tighter restrictions b/c they have to put up with that much more angst from people they can't let in - I doubt it has anything to do with the principle of the matter.

8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Pavel Lishin

Pavel Lishin Verified

So if I go the Canada for spring break and manage to lose my passport, am I stuck in some sort of international limbo until I can convince the embassy that yes, I'm an american citizen, nevermind the accent, no I don't know who the nineteenth president of the united states was, what does that prove, and who does know, anyway, PLEASE, I'M COLD AND HUNGRY LET ME IN

8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

mmbarts Anonymous

For more information on the artists visa situation, visit the American for the Arts website at http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/aler.... This is an issue that is impacting cultural organizations all over the nation.

8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Peter Stawicki Verified

Even for you Ms. Trevino, this was a very weak article.

I have searched all over the Lexus Nexus and other major news services and have been unable to find any stories dealing in this Visa problem so I will have to think outside the box.

Could any of the reasons someone from Nigeria be denied Visas, have to do with:

"Major Infectious Disease: degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: malaria respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis aerosolized dust or soil contact disease: one of the most highly endemic areas for Lassa fever note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007) " (From the CIA Factbook)

or maybe: "International Disputes: Joint Border Commission with Cameroon reviewed 2002 ICJ ruling on the entire boundary and bilaterally resolved differences, including June 2006 Greentree Agreement that immediately cedes sovereignty of the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon with a phase-out of Nigerian control within two years while resolving patriation issues; the ICJ ruled on an equidistance settlement of Cameroon-Equatorial Guinea-Nigeria maritime boundary in the Gulf of Guinea, but imprecisely defined coordinates in the ICJ decision and a sovereignty dispute between Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon over an island at the mouth of the Ntem River all contribute to the delay in implementation; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria"

or maybe: "Illicit Drugs: a transit point for heroin and cocaine intended for European, East Asian, and North American markets; consumer of amphetamines; safe haven for Nigerian narcotraffickers operating worldwide; major money-laundering center; massive corruption and criminal activity; Nigeria has improved some anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in June 2006; Nigeria's anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF"

While the underlying reason for Visa denial may have been racial (We know George Bush hates black people), chances are good that there are other reasons why someones Visa might be denied.

Try harder next article.

8 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

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