October 10, 2007

Another Scholar, an Expert on Comics, Is Denied a U.S. Visa

In another case of a foreign scholar finding an unwelcome mat on the United States’ doorstep, Ernesto Priego, a doctoral candidate at University College, London, was recently denied a visa to enter the country to appear at an academic conference.

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.

Mr. Priego could not immediately be reached for comment. The conference organizers said they hoped to have someone else deliver his paper. —Anna Weggel

Comments

1. 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.

   Let’s see if I’ve got this right. High-ranking members of the administration were so concerned that some graduate student might damage the country or the government with penetrating remarks on the history of comics at an obscure academic meeting that they figured, let’s keep the guy out, just to be safe. At the same time, they didn’t want to be bothered with manufacturing a false security threat, for example, against Vicente Fox — the former president of Mr. Priego’s homeland — with the hope of discouraging Fox from coming in and insulting President Bush. I guess they concluded that he would have much-less visibility on his U.S. television appearances than a grad student at a comic-arts conference.

   You sure can’t get anything past the critics!

   — S. Britchky    Oct 11, 06:41 AM    #

2. Right #1 — it’s another one of those vast right-wing conpiracies.

   — Dr. Fred Fidura    Oct 11, 07:07 AM    #

3. Very comical, indeed!

   — Gwen Alexis    Oct 11, 07:50 AM    #

4. Those rabble-rousing comic book “scholars”.

   Certainly his presence on U.S. soil would have shaken the Republic to its foundations. I am glad the critics credit President Bush with the foresight to prevent such threats from damaging the country.

   — TRB    Oct 11, 08:42 AM    #

5. If this were not so serious a threat to academic freedom and our First Amendment rights, it would indeed be funny. What is worse, the Administration talks out of both sides of its mouth, praising the value of cultural exchange and public diplomacy while acting in individual cases to undermine it. See my op-ed on this topic: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/30/EDGBSAN0B.DTL

   — Sandy Thatcher    Oct 11, 09:10 AM    #

6. The innocuousness of Mr. Priego’s work is one of the reasons his exclusion should concern us; the fact that he was denied entry to present a paper on the history of comics and not some more overtly political subject makes his exlusion more disturbing, not less. The United States government shouldn’t be in the business of determining which papers we get to hear, and if they can block a scholar from presenting a paper on the history of comics, they can do it to anyone on any subject for any reason—or, as in the case of Mr. Priego, for no reason at all.

   — Marc Singer    Oct 11, 09:11 AM    #

7. It’s more likely to me that some incompetent somewhere (what? incompetence in this administration?) has confused him with someone else. Those foreigners all look alike, ya know.

   — Chris    Oct 11, 09:28 AM    #

8. Why does the State Department not explain the reason for visa denials in such cases? If it is a ntaional security issue, let us hear it. If it is something else, let us examine that explanation. Don’t we academics have a right to know why certain academics are excluded from entry?

   — Mathew    Oct 11, 11:32 AM    #

9. Doesn’t anyone realize that Mr. Priego can still speak at the conference and present his paper even though he was denied a visa? Why don’t they just webcast his presentation to the forum in Washington? Problem solved!!

   — rick    Oct 11, 11:40 AM    #

10. “If this were not so serious a threat to academic freedom and our First Amendment rights…”

    “The innocuousness of Mr. Priego’s work…”

    Somehow these two seem to contradict each other!

    Calm the hysteria – Mr. Priego is not a citizen of the Unitted States and so does not enjoy the protection of the First Amendment. No one’s academic freedom is limited by Mr. Priego’s inability to enter the country, and as long as a visa is required for foreign nationals to enter this country and the State Department is responsible for authorizing these visas, the federal goverment will be “in the business of determining which papers we get to hear”, in a fashion.

    — TRB    Oct 11, 11:40 AM    #

11. TRB misses the point. It certainly is true that the State Department has the right to deny noncitizens visas. However, the purpose of State’s having that right is to protect the nation from danger, not to protect the administration from criticism. If a pattern is being established that seems to indicate fairly clearly that the latter is happening, then we also have the Constitutional right, and duty as citizens, to object. And the objection is not that what the administration is doing is Constitutionally illegal, but rather that it is just plain wrong and antithetical to a long tradition of free speech in this nation, even if we are technically not required to extend that right to certain individuals. (Before we get into some side conversation about al-Qaeda’s having any “right” to address our citizens, please keep in mind that the topic here is the history of comics.) If we start to believe that any administration action not specifically forbidden by the Constitution should not be criticized, then we’re in deep trouble.

    — Bob M.    Oct 11, 12:28 PM    #

12. Are visas now required for citizens of Mexico (Mr. Priego’s citizenship) to enter the U.S.? Canadian citizens too? Will U.S. citizens now need visas along with passports in order to travel to our northern and southern neighbors?

    — db    Oct 11, 03:01 PM    #

13. We should try to get this issue brought up at the next round of Presidential debates in both parties. There ought to be some sort of Golden Dunce Cap award for each one of these actions. Or, in honor of comics, a Gyro Gearloose Award perhaps?

    — Bruce L. Rockwood    Oct 11, 03:57 PM    #

14. “If we start to believe that any administration action not specifically forbidden by the Constitution should not be criticized, then we’re in deep trouble.”

    If we start to believe we must criticize every action in a knee-jerk fashion, jumping to conclusions concerning these actions without proof, we’re in trouble too. Hysteria is just another form of tyranny.

    You miss the point, sir – Mr. Priego has no right to be admitted to this country. Mr. Priego can appear at the conference via webcast, any who wish to can read and discuss his paper. There are no rights being violated here, no academic freedom being violated, no free speech being trampled upon.

    To suggest otherwise is to invite the sort of ridicule you see here.

    — TRB    Oct 11, 03:59 PM    #

15. Actually, TRB, I believe Bob M.‘s point is the stronger. The original assertion recognizes a pattern in the recent denials (and repeated denials, in some cases) of scholars’ visa applications, and attributes that pattern to a censorship of ideas that run counter to the Administration’s wishes. I don’t see that as knee jerk in any way. It is, in fact, quite considered and deliberate. And in the current situation, where the Administration is disinclined to provide explanations to very public inquiry as to why these scholars have been denied, speculation is hardly unexpected. You may think that unfair, but it is a natural reaction. One in which, I might add, Bob M. did not actually engage. I see no reason to ridicule him in any way, whether you agree with his position or not.

    I would also add that you are not correct in your assertion that no violations are occurring here. Mr. Priego’s academic freedom is certainly being violated. He is not being allowed to present in the fashion that all other participants are expected to use. Yes, he can webcast. But the free exchange of ideas between Mr. Priego and the other participants is stifled in that manner of interaction. He is certainly being denied academic freedom. And his free speech is being trampled on. The true statement is that none of HIS constitutional rights are being violated. This is true because he has few, if any. But that doesn’t mean that those things aren’t being left in the dust. To assert that only US citizens have a right to ask for the very things that stem from rights our own Declaration of Independence declared were inalienable for all men is, at best, arrogant. You are correct in asserting what I believe to be your intent – he has no LEGAL claim to those rights in the US. But I also believe we have come to think better of our nation than to merely follow the letter of the law rather than also upholding the spirit behind it.

    I would also say, however, that rights have been violated here. Academic freedom has been stifled. Free speech has been restricted. Those rights are ours, not Mr. Priego’s. We are being told that we can’t hear his words. We can’t discuss his views, whatever they are, with him. There can be no exchange of ideas in a common and necessary venue. It is one step away from the censor of books saying, “You can talk all you want about this book. You just can’t read it.”

    Whether you deem the history of comics to be of academic importance, our pursuit of any academic study is dependent on the free exchange of ideas and information. That exchange has been held dearly by those of us in academe for a very, very long time. Seeing that freedom impaired in any significant way (and this is significant) is cause for alarm. Not ridicule.

    — robert    Oct 11, 06:42 PM    #

16. Tyranny of the
    Republican
    Bullies

    — p    Oct 14, 02:37 AM    #

17. It seems that Mr. Priego’s visa was “denied” because he didn’t apply correctly. All visa applicants are now required to appear in person for an interview. And to answer db, yes, all Mexican individuals do require a visa or similar document to enter the US. Soon, perhaps as soon as summer of 2008 all US persons entering the United States will be required to present a US passport, passport or other valid travel document to enter or re-enter the United States.

    Back to Priego, in his own words, “... 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...”

    Unfortunately, the US and the State Department are governed by rules that provide a modicum of equity, if you follow them.

    — BB    Oct 18, 05:10 PM    #

18. Perhaps Priego has some suspected sinister conncection to the death of Captain America. People aren’t always as innocent as they seem. I certainly will sleep more soundly tonight knowing he remains secure south of the border.

    — George Lynn    Oct 19, 07:07 AM    #

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