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-Caveat Lector-
Minnesota's Finnish guests find a rude airport welcome
The musicians say they were subjected to harsh, demeaning treatment; the U.S.
government says it's investigating.
By _Jean Hopfensperger_ (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) , Star Tribune
_http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1513926.html_
(http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1513926.html)
Last update: October 28, 2007 – 10:54 PM
(http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.startribune.com/462/1513926.html&title=Minnesota's%20Finnish%20guests%20find%20a%20rude%20airport%20welcome&
bodytext=The%20musicians%20say%20they%20were%20subjected%20to%20harsh,%20demea
ning%20treatment;%20the%20U.S.%20government%20says%20it's%20investigating.&top
ic=)
When three of Finland's most popular musicians, including one described as
that country's Bruce Springsteen, arrived for a recent tour in Minnesota, they
expected a quick trip through airport customs.
Instead, immigration agents at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
subjected them to more than two hours of interrogation that the musicians
considered so harsh and demeaning that they filed a formal complaint with the
U.S. Embassy in Helsinki.
"It was almost three hours of screaming, door-slamming and accusations,
according to the report I received," said Marianne Wargelin, honorary Finnish
consul for the Dakotas and most of Minnesota, which has the second largest
Finnish-American population in the nation.
Erkki Maattanen, a filmmaker for Finnish Public Television who accompanied
the musicians on the September trip, said his questioners seemed to think the
entourage was smuggling drugs or intending to work without a permit. "I kept
trying to tell them why we were here, but they'd just yell, 'Shut up!"' he
said.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at the airport declined to
comment, referring questions to regional press officer Brett Sturgeon.
Sturgeon said such behavior, if it occurred, would run contrary to the
agency's policy that travelers must be treated in a professional manner. The
complaint has not yet arrived at the Chicago regional office, but when it does,
it
will be fully investigated, he said.
He speculated that the Finns could have been singled out because they were
arriving from Amsterdam, considered high risk for narcotics trafficking.
The incident began about noon Sept. 13 when the artists were standing in line
at the airport, waiting for their passports to be checked, said Maattanen.
They had been invited to the Immigration History Research Center at the
University of Minnesota for a cultural tribute to Finnish-Americans. They also
planned
to travel to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and several small towns in Minnesota and
Michigan to meet Finnish-Americans and play music from their homeland.
Finnish Public Television, which was making a documentary about the trip, and
the university paid travel expenses, said Prof. Jukka Savolainen, who was
waiting at the airport to meet them.
As the artists waited in line, two immigration agents approached musician
Jukka Karjalainen, whom Savolainen described as "the Bruce Springsteen of
Finland" as well as a devotee of Finnish-American folk music. According to the
complaint, they began questioning and yelling at him.
Sniffing dogs
Dogs were brought in to sniff the artists' bags. Each was taken into a
separate room for questioning, which focused on whether they were going to earn
any
money on their trip.
"They threatened us with severe punishments if we talk to each other,"
according to the complaint signed by musicians Ninni Poijärvi and Mika
Kuokkanen,
"Through the walls, I can hear officers yelling, screaming. They ask about the
purpose of our trip -- except we are only allowed to give yes-or-no answers. I
try to talk about our plans to meet with Finnish-American folk musicians.
Nobody listens. They interrupt me constantly and they yell, 'You are a liar!"'
Meanwhile, Maattanen was being questioned in another room.
"From the beginning, they said I was lying, that these guys were coming here
to work," said the veteran filmmaker, who said he has travelled to the United
States at least 15 times without incident. "They were shouting at me, and
people were going in and out of doors. They tried to put you down mentally, to
humiliate you.
"I was ashamed for their behavior," he said.
No apology
The four were eventually released with no explanation and no apology, the
complaint said. They met Savolainen, who had been in an airport waiting room,
and
who later said he marveled that immigration agents would think that a wealthy
recording artist would travel to the United States "in hopes of earning money
playing acoustic music in rural Minnesota."
Strugeon speculated that uncertainty over the musicians' travel documents may
have led to the questioning. Visitors from Finland are required to carry a
valid passport and to fill out a visa waiver that allows them to stay in the
United States for up to 90 days. They cannot work, however.
Strugeon said there may have been some uncertainty about whether the
musicians would be earning money on the trip.
Two of the musicians are slated to return this year and are worried they may
face other problems entering the country, in part because their passports have
a big red flag. Immigration agents initially stamped "Refused Entry" on the
passports, said Savolainen, and then later simply crossed that stamp out with a
pen.
And organizers of the national FinnFest2008, which is expected to draw about
7,000 visitors to Duluth next summer, hope the incident won't keep these
musicians from returning to Minnesota.
"There are a lot of people who want to see these musicians again," said Ralph
Tuttilla, a St. Paul musician who hosted the visitors one night for dinner.
"That's why some action needs to be taken."
************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com
www.ctrl.org
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/
<A HREF="http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/";>ctrl</A>
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