For 36 hours last week, the Department of Homeland Security prevented Ian McEwan, an eminent British author, from entering the United States on grounds he did not have the proper visa to give lectures. McEwan was admitted only after the intervention of the State Department, appeals from the British government and scores of complaints from three West Coast groups that had booked speaking engagements. But his passport was stamped "Refused Admittance," and McEwan will no longer be allowed into the United States under a visa waiver that has long been granted to citizens of the United Kingdom and 26 other Western countries. ....
McEwan tried to enter the country last Tuesday under a visa waiver, as he has done many times for trips during which he has given paid lectures. But he aroused suspicion among customs officers when he said he would get $5,000 for each of three lectures. .... |