Reply #14: she's German, Germans don't need a visa to enter the US

[reorg]

even journalists.

I don't know how many other passports she might have, but that doesn't infringe upon her rights as a German. She travelled to the US from Berlin, and returned to Germany after entry was refused:
http://www.heise.de/tp/blogs/6/148232 (in German)


The link you provided shows that there are restrictions on journalists that don't exist for other professions, that's weird in itself, I agree totally. Why on earth would a country restrict entry for foreign journalists while allowing other citizens from the same foreign country to move freely about and do what they want? Shouldn't it be the other way around, rather? If there must be restrictions, shouldn't the freedom of information have precedence, I mean we are talking about the US, right?

And yes, as I told you before, it is entirely possible that she didn't even know that any restrictions for journalists exist. *I* didn't know it, and I have searched the site of the US embassy many times. Normally, you wouldn't even do any kind of research on this since it is general knowledge that Germans don't need visas for short visits to the US. It is widely reported in the news whenever any changes occur. Usually you know people who have been to the US and tell you about the procedures.

Plus, it is more than questionable if these restrictions for journalists "on contract" even apply in this case. If she wasn't "on contract" - as very well may be the case with a freelancer, what was she supposed to do other than truthfully inform the immigration officer that she was planning to do research in public archives? Nothing illegal here. It's the same as what happened to Anna Ardin, Assange's accuser, in Cuba. She was researching the Cuban opposition networks and when Cuban authorities found out they told her: either you start holidaying now or you leave. Actually, it's worse than in Cuba, Ms Ardin got a choice. The US, by contrast, didn't even let Ms Weber in and have banned her now forever.

Of course, the US can refuse entry to whomever they don't like or have blacklisted, for whatever reason. Kind of amazing to find someone here who would defend it, though.