Now that convention season is well underway, one of the most frequent questions we’ve been hearing here at the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is whether it’s safe for creators from other countries to go to comic-cons in the U.S.
The fact that the current surge in detentions and deportation led Ryan Estrada and Kim Hyun Sook, the authors of Banned Book Club, to cancel their planned U.S. book tour, this year highlights how serious the chilling effect of visa restrictions and heightened enforcement can be. What’s at stake here is not just the technicalities of immigration law, as important as they are – restrictions on travel can also restrict speech.
This week, we’re returning to the visa and immigration question to examine the risks and realities facing international creators, publishers, fans, journalists, and others in the comics community when they go to U.S. comic-cons. The focus will be on U.S. visas for those arriving here from other countries, but many of the core principals are relevant for U.S. citizens going to conventions worldwide.
The following is an overview of what we’ll be covering in this week’s visa series. As always, this is not legal advice, but understanding existing law and its implications for cross-border convention travel can make consultations with one’s own attorney even more helpful!
- How does the new wave of visa enforcement relate to the First Amendment and what was allowed before the current crackdown? The next post will review the fundamentals of the visa system and their connection to previous CBLDF cases.
- Then, we’ll look at how more rigorous enforcement of the rules governing tourist visas, business visas, and the Visa Waiver Program, commonly known as ESTA, could affect a range of activities at comic-cons. Can non-U.S. creators and other international attendees speak on panels? Could a creator here on a business visa sell original art, prints, and commissions in artist alleys? What about paid signings or appearances? What about the employees of an international publisher or entertainment company working at an exhibitor booth? These are a few of the questions we’ll be considering – and if there are others that you would like me to address, please let me know!
- Just as limits on the freedom to travel can have a substantial impact on free speech, they also have implications for the right to privacy. This is especially true at border crossings, when everything from what you pack to your digital history can be the basis for being forced to go straight back home. In this section, we’ll explore the potential impact of social media posts, published comics material, smartphones, computers, works-in-progress, art supplies, and housing arrangements on one’s ability to enter the U.S.
- Finally, we’ll look at how other visa categories – such as the O visa, J visa, student visa, and H-1B – could either expand or restrict the scope of free expression at conventions and beyond. As with other aspects of this important issue, we’ll seen once again how helping members of the international comics community protect their rights to free expression at comic-cons can also help us defend comics from all forms of censorship here in the U.S.