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K-Pop band sent home from LA airport lacked work visa: report

#kpop band not mistaken for sex workers; lacked work visa says US customs
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LOS ANGELES — Members of a K-pop girl band detained at the Los Angeles airport and sent back to South Korea lacked the proper work visas, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Dec 13).

The agency that represents the band Oh My Girl, WM Entertainment, said that US immigration authorities suspected that they might be sex workers after the eight performers were held at the Los Angeles airport for 15 hours on Dec 9.

Not true, an official with the US Customs and Border Patrol told the Times.

Band members were seeking to enter under a program that allows South Koreans to travel in the United States for up to 90 days without a visa, the official said.

But when customs agents went through their luggage and found costumes and props it was clear that they had arrived to perform.

The US agents denied the young women entry because they lacked the required P1 performance visa.

“We were doing what we do every day,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Times. “We send people back all the time.”

http://www.todayonline.com/world/k-pop-band-sent-home-la-airport-lacked-work-visa-report

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11 December 2015

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Leta Hong Fincher洪理达 Retweeted Martin Fackler

Shame on US customs officers! Would they treat male performers this way?

Leta Hong Fincher洪理达 added,

  Hamid ‏@hamid

@LetaHong and would they have treated white women this way?

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WM: Oh My Girl detained at US airport as they were mistaken for prostitutes + visa problems http://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=311&aid=0000553214 …

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Asian Junkie ‏@asianjunkiecom 52m52 minutes ago

Oh My Girl‘s company pay for being cheap & trying to remain kayfabe at airport – http://www.asianjunkie.com/2015/12/11/oh-my-girls-company-pay-for-being-cheap-trying-to-remain-kayfabe-at-airport/ … …

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3. After this, Oh My Girl and the staff had no problem with the procedures at the [Los Angeles] airport immigration office and passed through, but a problem arose while at customs.

The person in charge of customs asked Oh My Girl and the staff what relationship they had with each other, and one of the staff used the word ‘sister’ and a misunderstanding occurred. They thought it was strange that we were not blood related, but said that we were ‘sisters’. And so they took extra attention to the large quantity of items and outfits we had. And since the members are young girls, they were mistaken as ‘working women’ (prostitutes) which the U.S. has a big issue with right now.

4. After the misunderstanding was resolved, we were sent back to the airport immigration office, and had communication with the airport staff, and our opinion was not straightened out. And in the previous step, our phones were seized and it was an extreme situation where we could not contact anyone outside. The company was detained for a long period of 15 hours, and we decided to go back to Korea because of the members who were tired physically and emotionally.

http://www.asianjunkie.com/2015/12/11/oh-my-girls-company-pay-for-being-cheap-trying-to-remain-kayfabe-at-airport/

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日の丸に魅せられて ‏@hinomaru2656 3m3 minutes ago

ナイスな判断(＾ｰ^)ノ 売春婦ね間違いないな K-POP 8人グループ”Oh My Girl“が渡米！ → 米空港、売春婦集団8人を15時間拘束し送り返す : 保守速報 http://hosyusokuhou.jp/archives/46264621.html …

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Mwave ‏@OfficialMwave 13h13 hours ago

[Airport Fashion/Photo] #OhMyGirl Returns to Korea After Facing Complications at LAX http://mwave.interest.me/enewsworld/en/article/100798/airport-fashionphoto-oh-my-girl-returns-to-korea-after-facing-complications-at-lax …

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