SXSW Immigration Deportation Of Performers? Border And Customs Could Kick Out Some South By Southwest Artists

Officials at a popular annual music festival have come under fire for seemingly threatening deportation for performers who are not U.S. citizens. International artists who were traveling to Austin, Texas to perform at the South By Southwest Festival (SXSW) were contractually forbidden from playing gigs at any other venue for the duration of the festival, and doing so without work visas was a violation that would result in U.S. Border officials being notified, organizers have warned.

Felix Walworth, a drummer in the New York-based punk band Told Slant, publicly canceled the group’s appearance at this year’s festival by tweeting a picture of the performance contract which stated that event organizers would contact immigration officials if artists performed outside of their official showcases.

"I'm not interested in aligning myself with an institution that interacts with immigration authorities as a means of controlling where art is shared and performed, and who makes money off of it," Walworth tweeted Thursday. "This festival uses an imperialist model and prioritizes centralizing and packaging culture over communities and people's safety.

Walworth's picture of the contract showed that if international artists play in public concerts outside of South By Southwest, they would be endangered of being replaced. Further, the event’s officials would “notify the appropriate U.S. immigration authorities” in addition to stripping them of their sponsored hotel accommodations.

South By Southwest responded to Walworth's accusations in a statement Friday saying he took “our language out of context” and that the festival has never reported international showcasing artists to immigration authorities. The organizing committee would additionally hire “a coalition of attorneys to assist any who face problems upon arrival in the States,” the statement said.

The festival's policy regarding its international artists has been in place for five years in order to “provide SXSW with a means to respond to an act that does something truly egregious, such as disobeying our rules about pyrotechnics on stage, starting a brawl in a club, or causing serious safety issues," SXSW Managing Director Roland Swenson told the Austin Chronicle in response to Walworth. Swenson said he was personally against President Donald Trump's failed travel ban on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. and that 62 foreign countries were scheduled to perform at South By Southwest this year.

"For example, those acts coming to SXSW to perform without a work visa are limited, by U.S. immigration law, to performing their showcase event only. If an artist wishes to perform elsewhere, they will require a work visa," Swenson said.

Artists representing 62 foreign countries were scheduled to perform at SXSW this year from March 14 to 18.

Roughly 140,000 people purchase tickets for the music festival every year, which also includes smaller scale film and technology conferences. Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited the festival last year to take in the festivities. Barack Obama also sat down with Editor in Chief of The Texas Tribune Evan Smith on one of the main stages to urge an audience of technological entrepreneurs about the ways in which new technologies can help the country in its fight against global warming and increase civic engagement.