Dance Magazine: If you ask a U.S. immigration expert what’s changed over the past year for performing artists, you’ll get 14 bullet points linked to text-heavy web pages. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. “With the new regime in the U.S., new challenges have arisen,” says Matthew Covey, executive director of Tamizdat, a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that facilitates and advocates for international mobility and cultural exchange.
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It is absolutely devastating to see the effects of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies affecting all artists within the United States, regardless or despite their background. It’s no surprise that many of the mentioned artists are fearful, intimidated or increasingly worried about their place within the American art industries. Deportation is an inherently violent form of punishment and it’s reasonable for the fear of not being able to obtain a VISA to overtake dancers trying to work in the United States. What stood out to me the most though, was the inaccessibility and “premium” paywalls towards the VISA or greencard process. It’s ridiculous that these paywalls have only gotten worse and the fact that the paywalls exist in the first place is a testament to the brokenness of the system as a whole. All might seem hopeless at the moment, but addressing these issues and advocating for global art opportunities in the United States is necessary in order to combat this issue, particularly at a representative level.
It is so awful to see how the new immigration policies set in place by the Trump Administration have impacted everyone. From the circumstances spoken to in this article to the raids and families being separated or innocent people being killed, it’s awful and I have mourned, been enraged, and/or had anxiety every day because of this. There are things I can no longer say that I would if I could in spaces such as in this comment because of how the current administration may react. When reading this article, seeing the fact that criticism of our federal government on social media could be a reason for people to have their VISA and paperwork declined is absolutely absurd and quite frankly, fascist. Criticism of the government is so essential to maintaining power balance and a non-fascist country. Censorship and propaganda go hand in hand and keep people under the foot of power structures and blind. It is horrible to see this cycle we have seen in history many times before perpetuate itself and for people to be blind to it and impacted negatively by it already.
This article gave me a lot of insight into the troubles dancers are other artists are facing with the new immigration policies in place. I was glad that the article emphasized that foreign nationals who want to work in the U.S. must show “extraordinary ability in an art form.” Some, like Rivas, must game the system, trying to audition for shows that would help their case, and getting long positions that ensure they will stay in the U.S. before they receive a visa.
It's frustrating to hear that long bureaucratic processes are causing so much hold up for performing groups. I’ve recently been reading about early immigration laws in the 19th and 20th centuries aimed to bar Asian immigrants. These laws were created to be complicated and specific, to create legal justification for selectivity. It's terrifying how easily parallels can be made between the 1870s and today. I’m glad there is a community there to support artists going through this, and I hope that the process is improved upon.
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