On February 12, 2005, the four members of The Grey, were headed from their home base of Ottawa, Ont., to a show in Ogdensburg. N.Y. They never got there. Hayden Menzies tells Econo what happened.
The GreyWe were going to Ogdensburg New York to play one, potentially non-paying show.
When we got to the border, we, regrettably, lied at first about whether or not we were playing because we were uncertain whether or not we needed visas for a potentially non-paying show. After looking on the internet and searching our van, [the American border guards] saw that we were supposed to play and hauled us in for interviews one by one for the next 6 hours. We were fingerprinted, photographed and expedited as illegal aliens from the United States.
The supervising officer did all the talking, while the officer in training did not say much at all, but his signature was on all the paperwork.
The main question we were asked was if this is how we made our living. Funny since one of the reasons they suspected something was fishy, was when they found a book in the van with merch sales (an oversight on our part). The book had pretty sad looking numbers, like making $20 total from a show. They couldn’t understand that we did this for fun.
We were treated as terrorists at first. When we first went, one by one, into the room with the interrogating officer they used that line about “America is at war, and Canada may not take that seriously…” and “since 9-11, we take these things seriously.” Then they realized that we were not making any money doing what we do, and that we were more naïve than anything else. Some of the other guards even told us that the whole thing was bullshit, and that it was overzealous and a waste of paperwork.
The decision to deport and ban us from the US was made entirely by officer Kurt Tennat, the supervising officer. He said he had consulted his supervisor by phone, but we don’t know for sure. No court proceedings, no legalities, no chance.
The experience soured us on border issues, but as far as America as a whole, our opinions are pretty much the same. The border happenings sort of exemplified our feelings regarding the U.S. and its political endeavors–confused and misguided, but hopeful that, despite the many problems, there are a lot of good people who, if given the right information and the chance, could change how things are run.
There has been some letter writing from Brian Lowit [the head of our label. Lovitt] and ourselves. We’ve written to our members of parliament here in Canada, to U.S. senators, and American Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. So far, there hasn’t been too much in the way of positive response, but we’re still trying. There is an appeal process but it is a long shot and it’s not cheap.
As of filing, Menzies and his bandmates are still banned from entering the United States for the next five years.
WoW that sucks. They shouldn’t have lied, and gotten all the information they could about any and all visas that they might have needed.
The actual article Used without permission, its the american way! lolomgwtfbbq!
