While we wish this was something out of The Onion, it isn’t: SXSW 2017 are reportedly looking to report international musicians to immigration!
Unofficial parties have been a part of South by Southwest for as long as there has been a South by Southwest. In fact, there are a few unofficial South by Southwest parties that feature some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry today!
But, according to The AV Club, SXSW 2017 is promising to be a horse of a completely different color: festival officials are promising to refer international musicians to immigration for deportation if they’re caught at unofficial SXSW 2017 parties.
This was brought to the public’s attention by Felix Walworth, who plays for a variety of independent bands. When he realized that this was going on, he took to his Twitter to not only cancel his band’s, Todd Slant’s, appearance at SXSW 2017, but to put out a call to all artists to cancel their showcases at the festival, too, in solidarity with independent, international musicians.
After looking through this contract sent to me by sxsw I have decided to cancel Told Slant's performance at the festival pic.twitter.com/rI2Xv0duJl
— Told Slant (@Felixixix666) March 2, 2017
Can our first step toward coalition as artists with radical politics be to cancel all our official showcases at sxsw? I'm serious just do it
— Told Slant (@Felixixix666) March 2, 2017
The AV Club subsequently reached out to SXSW 2017 managing director Roland Swensen, and he claimed that while this wasn’t a new addition to the contract, Walworth had blown it completely out of proportion.
"“We understand that given the current political climate surrounding immigration, the language that was published seems strong. Violating U.S. immigration law has always carried potentially severe consequences, and we would be remiss not to warn our participating acts of the likely repercussions. Language governing SXSW’s ability to protect a showcase has been in the artist Performance Agreement for many years. It is, and always was intended to be, a safeguard to provide SXSW with a means to respond to an act that does something truly egregious, such as disobeying our rules about pyrotechnics on stage, starting a brawl in a club, or causing serious safety issues.”"
Next: Emma Watson Can Dress However She Wants
To be clear, the SXSW 2017 officials aren’t threatening to deport the immigrant musicians themselves. However, in the wake of the Trump administration’s questionable — at best — tactics towards immigrants, it’s necessary to bring this to everyone’s attention, to let them know that they, too, are at risk.