What happens is dozens of American intelligence agencies pour names into a vast database, which includes everyone from Osama bin Laden (his name has allegedly never been removed in some sort of reverse tribute) to the latest ISIS thug to all sorts of others who have little or no actual reason to be there, such as Murray.
The likely salient part of the database in Murray's case is called CLASS, part of the Consular Consolidated Database. It is the largest known data warehouse in the world. As of December 2009, the last time information was available, it contained over 100 million cases and 75 million photographs, and has a current growth rate of approximately 35,000 records per day.
When one of those persons labeled a bad guy applies for entry or a visa to the U.S., the computer generates a hit. A hit is enough to deny anyone a visa-free trip to the U.S. with no further questions asked and no information given. Technically, the traveler never even officially knows he was "a hit."
The U.S. government never has to tell Murray why he is no longer allowed into the country without a visa.
Others have faced a similar predicament--particularly ideological exclusion--when invited to speak at conferences.
Pakistani human rights lawyer Shahzad Akbar was blocked from speaking at a conference hosted by the Columbia University law school's human rights program in 2011. He had trouble getting a visa to speak at a CODEPINK conference in 2012. He has represented Karim Khan in his lawsuit against the U.S. government for launching a drone attack that killed Khan's son and brother.
Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan is well-known for being denied entry in 2004 after the Patriot Act flagged him. It prevented him from taking a job at Notre Dame University. Later, in 2006, when the State Department was ordered by a federal court to justify refusing him entry, it alleged he was a "material supporter of terrorism" for contributing to two European groups, which provided "humanitarian aid to the Palestinians."
Karim Meziane, Dora Maria Tellez, Vicente Verez-Bencomo, John Milios, Adam Habib, Riyadh Lafta, Omar Barghouti, Malalai Joya, and 61 Cuban scholars are all individuals, who the U.S. government has used post-9/11 security measures to deny entry into the country.
The visa denials--or in this case, the refusal to allow Murray to enter with a visa-waiver--all occur for similar reasons. The person is critical of U.S. policy and so they become candidates for denied entry. It is essentially "blacklisting." Graham Greene, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Dario Fo, Pablo Neruda, Carlos Fuentes, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and former NATO Deputy Supreme Commander Nino Pasti were all at one point excluded for their writing, plays, or outspokenness against U.S. government policies.
As Murray concluded, "I have no criminal record, no connection to drugs or terrorism, have a return ticket, hotel booking and sufficient funds. I have a passport from a visa waiver country and have visited the USA frequently before during 38 years and never overstayed."
"The only possible grounds for this refusal of entry clearance are things I have written against neoliberalism, attacks on civil liberties, and neoconservative foreign policy. People at the conference in Washington will now not be able to hear me speak."
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