As another reflection of the tension between protecting national security and preserving civil liberties, foreign journalists, the Associated Press this week reported that a number of journalists have been barred from entering the US because they have sought to enter on visitor visas rather than “I” visas. We recently reported that the USCIS was going to be more lenient in allowing journalists to enter a single time on visa waiver visitor status with a stern warning to use the “I” visa for future visits.

Although the I-visa requirement has been in place since 1952, it has only recently been strictly enforced.  Media advocacy groups assert that many reporters do not know of the I-visa because it has not been adequately publicized.  This unawareness has resulted in the deportations of at least 18 journalists since January 2003.  Often, these foreign reporters are locked overnight in degrading detention cells and then handcuffed before being returned to their home countries.

As noted above, protests of the regulation and the reporters’ treatment prompted U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ease its policy somewhat.  Port directors now have discretion to admit a foreign journalist without the I-visa upon the individual’s first entry.  Some reporters criticize this change as creating more inconsistency and arbitrariness.  The American Society of Newspaper Editors urges Congress to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to accord foreign journalists of “friendly” countries the same privilege of entry as their compatriots.  Reporters Without Borders notes that only countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba require special visas for reporters.

Media groups feel an especially urgent need for reform as foreign journalists prepare to cover the upcoming political conventions and presidential election.  They also fear that the crackdown on foreign journalists in the U.S. will provoke other countries to deny American journalists access abroad.