Italian post-punks Soviet Soviet deported from US as illegal immigrants

Members of Soviet Soviet, an Italian band playing a combination of post-punk, new wave, gothic rock and alternative rock, were detained at the airport and spent the night in a jail cell before being deported from the country. They arrived in the US to play at SXSW, a big annual festival in Austin, Texas.

US Customs and Border Protection detained the band members as illegal immigrants. The musicians were interrogated for four hours, handcuffed and taken to a detention facility where they had to spend the night in a cell. The next morning, they, still handcuffed, were taken to the airport and deported back to Italy. All belongings of Soviet Soviet members were confiscated and returned only before their flight back.

The musicians arrived in the US under the Visa Waiver Program to play unpaid promotional performances, but Customs and Border Protection officials said the musicians needed work visas. The band’s arrival in the US was interpreted as an attempt to stay in the country illegally to look for a job, so the musicians were deported. Neither an official invitation from the festival organisers, nor a letter from the band’s United States label saying that the band’s shows would be promotional was taken into account.

“There was simply no way of convincing the officials we spoke to. From that moment onwards, we became three illegal immigrants and were treated like criminals,” the musicians say in the official statement and apologize to their fans for having to cancel the US tour.

The deportation of the Italian musicians may be explained by the new US administration’s isolationist immigration policy conducted by Donald Trump. The country’s authorities are going to cut immigration drastically, particularity from Muslim-majority countries, suspend refugee admissions, strengthen visa requirements and introduce stricter border crossing procedures.

SXSW (South by Southwest) is an annual festival founded in 1987. It features various events, including concerts, film screenings, art exhibitions and conferences. Its music section, SXSW Music is the world’s biggest music festival of that sort. This year’s event takes place on March 10-19.