Legal News

On Immigration Law and the ?Culturally Unique?

By Ashby Jones

If and when immigration law has made the front pages in recent years, chances are the topic concerned the hot-button issue of illegal immigration, specifically as it pertains to Mexico.

But a fascinating WSJ front-pager on Thursday illustrates another aspect of immigration law which will strike some as no less head-scratching: how U.S. immigration officials go about granting visas to artistic performers.

The lead anecdote in the story, written by Miriam Jordan, showcases the rather, well, arbitrary-seeming nature of the process:

When Jordan Peimer booked an Argentine band, [Orquesta Kef, (pictured)], that fuses Jewish Klezmer music with tango, he thought he had the perfect act to headline his “Fiesta Hanukkah” concert. . . .

[But] that was before the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services weighed in with some cultural commentary of its own. The band couldn’t travel to the U.S., the agency ruled, because it didn’t satisfy a “culturally unique” requirement for a performer visa called P-3.

“The evidence repeatedly suggests the group performs a hybrid or fusion style of music . . . [which] cannot be considered culturally unique to one particular country, nation, society, class, ethnicity, religion, tribe or other group of persons,” read the denial. It was signed by caseworker CSC4672/WS24533.

Mr. Peimer was incensed. “How more culturally specific can you get than Jewish music of Latin America?” he asked. After Mr. Peimer did some venting on his Facebook page, a reader quipped that this is the era of “ethnomusicalsecurity.”

Indeed, as the story indicates, current immigration law gives an anonymous group of government bureaucrats a lot of cultural clout: They can decide which foreign ballerinas, musicians and artists qualify as “outstanding,” or special enough to deserve a visa to enter the U.S.

Artists who wish to visit the U.S. for a performance typically need a P-1 visa; a P-3 visa, issued to entertainers participating in a culturally unique program; or an O-1 visa, for individuals with extraordinary ability in the arts, education or sciences.

According to the Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 9, “internationally recognized” signifies “a high level of achievement in a field evidenced by a degree of skill and recognition substantially above that ordinarily encountered, to the extent that such achievement is renowned, leading, or well-known in more than one country.”

But a mere assertion that an act is internationally acclaimed doesn’t necessarily render a visa. “Being internationally acclaimed is not equivalent to performing on stages overseas,” says a spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Ultimately, most applications are approved. Some organizations and promoters representing artists complain that official judgments of artistic merit are often arbitrary, however.

“It is essential for countries like the United States and the United Kingdom to maintain open borders for arts professionals,” says Carrie Annand, a spokeswoman for the British Council, which deploys talent around the world.

Photo: Orquesta Kef

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on December 10, 2009 (boomark / email).