L.A. Press Club panel on LAX Journalist Visa controversy

Blogger and Reason editor Matt Welch says:

Tonight in LA, the L.A. Press Club hosts a panel about how LAX border guards have been stopping European and Australian reporters at the airport, cuffing and searching them, and shipping them back home, for failing to have a previously undemanded Journalist Visa. If you're unfamiliar with the topic, here are three critical columns I've written about it: 1, 2, 3.

Basically, customs enforcement personnel LAX started last May to enforce a law that had previously been unenforced. Most all other visitors (including tourists, businessmen, and publicists) from the 27 "Visa Waiver" countries can enter the U.S. for 90 days without a visa, but journalists are required by law to apply in advance for an I-Visa, shell out $100, present a letter from their publication on letterhead, and wait for up to several weeks for approval. And the wording is not at all clear as to whether freelancers or even webloggers must also heed the requirement. Needless to say, this makes it difficult to cover breaking news; and it's hard to see how this would prevent any terrorist acts considering all a murderous Frenchman would need to do is say he was a tourist.

Still, immigration officials say, a law's a law, and Sept. 11 taught us to take such laws seriously. Also, LAX has been a target in the past, and many security officials say that the Visa Waiver program is the single most dangerous loophole in our consular system. What makes tonight's panel potentially newsworthy is that A) the Bureau for Immigration and Customs Enforcement has recently announced new guidelines on the matter to all major points of entry; and B) a BICE official and the U.S. Consul for Tijuana will be there to field questions, along with German Consul pro Michael Wolff. At the very least, we might finally understand what the actual rules are. And today's American visa tightening can be tomorrow's foreign crackdown on American travelers; American journalists and webloggers may find themselves in some uncomfortable situations in Paris and Sydney, if this keeps up.

Link to event details, starts at 630pm. Also, blogger Ernest Miller suggests two posts from other weblogs for related reading: discourse.net, and buzzmachine.