I am not a fan of the present regime in D.C., nor, do I doubt their ability to bring pressuer on their critics, but we need a little perspective, here. Les Barker is no burr under their saddles. His is not a very loud voice in dissent. It is that our government, and yours, makes it tough to get working permits for alians. When I lived in Ireland, I played in England and Scotland but I never (I blush to admit) applied for permission to enter those countries to work. If I had asked, as others did, I would have had a hell of a lot of trouble. I used to think that they would hassle me because of my association with the Irish Republican movement but, when I spoke to Tom Paxton, he said that his entry had been held up, too. Of course, he was doing major, well advertised, concerts and I was playing clubs, more localized, less advertised.
Frankly, every country has its own little twist on what kind of dance a performer has to do to get temporary working papers.
When I was a young man, I did booking for the Philadelphia Folk Festival and I can tell you stories about trying to get our acts through the maze of red tape.

                         Mike