[jmduke]

America's border control system is so broken that it saddens me to see posts like this that reek of sensationalism (I mean, it's Vice) and hide the fact that, you know, he didn't have a valid visa.

I'm having trouble understanding what was so deplorable about this story besides the reprehensible treatment by the officials (which, again, seems exaggerated)? Am I misreading the story or is refusal to enter the country not the proper response to not having the correct documentation?

[philwelch]

> I'm having trouble understanding what was so deplorable about this story besides the reprehensible treatment by the officials (which, again, seems exaggerated)?

"Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

[jmduke]

Right, but Abraham Lincoln did nothing wrong by going to the play and the author did something wrong (I don't mean in a moral sense, but in a sense of 'incorrect') by going to the United States without the proper visa.

[philwelch]

Well that's a tortured analogy if I've ever seen one.

[jmduke]

Yeah, my point is that the two are in no way analogous.

[philwelch]

It's a common expression. [1] In this context it means: this guy's treatment by the customs & border officials was so reprehensible and abusive that his legal right to enter the US is beside the point, just like how the actual merits of the play were beside the point for Mrs. Lincoln.

[1] https://www.google.com/#q=other%20than%20that%20mrs.%20linco...

[machrider]

Do you need a visa to visit the US for a couple weeks? He did have a passport.

[MichaelGG]

If he's German, then he can use ESTA if he qualifies for the Visa Waiver Program. But performing for compensation (tips + food) is probably technically work so that wouldn't help, and he'd need a work visa, like he says in the article.