The media is reporting that Amy Winehouse was denied a visa to come to the United States for the Grammy Awards. The media was also unsure as to why. Quite simple. Amy is a drug addict. Addicts are inadmissible to the United States. INA § 212(a)(1)(A)(iv). Amy has a drug conviction and likely admits to violating drug laws. People with drug convictions or who admits to drug crimes are inadmissible to the United States. INA § 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II). A person who is seeking to enter the United States temporarily can receive a waiver of inadmissibility at the discretion of the Department of Homeland Security. It can take a long time to get a waiver request decided, though sometimes prominent people can get their requests expedited. Until one is granted, she is not coming to the United States — six Grammy nominations or not.

Veterans who served during periods of hostilities are able to naturalize even with some blemishes on their records that ordinarily would bar them from naturalizing. See INA § 329. USCIS is even trying to expedite processing by asking veterans to sign a release to allow that fingerprints from their military file can be used for processing purposes instead of having new fingerprints taken. USCIS asks that the release be faxed or emailed rather than mailed to save time. Well, don’t try emailing. The email does not work. Spare the effort to scan the release and email it. While USCIS’s intentions are good; their technology — not so good.

Dan Rostenkowski

Congressman Rostenkowski, who served in Congress from 1959 to 1994 and was chairman of the House of Representatives’s Ways and Means Committee, pled guilty to two counts of mail fraud and was sentenced to seventeen months in prison on April 9, 1996. He was ordered to pay $100,000 in fines and restitution. This conviction would render Mr. Rostenkowski permanently banned from the United States pursuant to INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii), removability for an aggravated felony. Chairman Rostenkowki would be considered an aggravated felon for defrauding for an amount in excess of $10,000. INA § 101(a)(43)(M)(i).

His many years of government service would not ward off removal as there is no pardon available for an aggravated felon under current law.

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr. sentenced in November 1996 to three years probation after pleading no contest to possessing cocaine and heroin, carrying a concealed weapon, and driving under the influence of drugs. He was sentenced to three years in prison in August 1999 for violating probation. Mr. Downey was nominated for an Academy Award for his title role in the 1992 film “Chaplin,” about the life of Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin, incidentally, was not permitted to return to the United States in 1953, while on a trip to Europe to join the premiere celebrations of his film, Limelight. He did not seek admission to the United States again until 1972.
Mr. Downey would be deportable for controlled substance violations under INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(i), for being or for having been at any time an addict, INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(ii) and for having been convicted of a firearms offense. INA § 237(a)(2)(C). He would be eligible for a pardon as none of his crimes or behaviors renders him an aggravated felon.

Randall Todd Cunningham Jr.

Randall Todd Cunningham Jr., son of San Diego Congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham was sentenced to 2 ½ years in federal prison on November 18, 1998, after being convicted of smuggling 400 pounds of marijuana from San Diego to Lawrence, Massachusetts. The crime is a controlled substance violation, rendering him removable pursuant to INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(i) and as an aggravated felon under INA § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii) because drug smuggling is an aggravated felony. INA § 101(a)(43)(B). It had originally been planned that he be sentenced to a boot camp and half-way house, but the plan was scrapped after he tested positive for cocaine three times while on bail. Being a drug abuser is a separate ground rendering him deportable. INA § 237(a)(2)(B)(ii).
Because his crime is an aggravated felony he is ineligible for a pardon.