Graham wrote:

When writer Elena Lappin flew to LA, she dreamed of a sunkissed, laid-back city. But that was before airport officials decided to detain her as a threat to security ...
...
As it turned out, I was to spend 26 hours in detention. My crime: I had flown in earlier that day to research an innocuous freelance assignment for the Guardian, but did not have a journalist's visa.

This really is quite saddening. It really reminds me of the stupid rules that grade-school teachers would have, where there was never an exception to the rule. Something very similar happened to Havlar Flake while trying to enter the country to give a presentation/workshop at Blackhat. (http://addxorrol.blogspot.com/2007/07/ive-been-denied-entry-to-us-essentially.html)

RE: Welcome to America | www.guardian.co.uk