A wave of artists are reconsidering tours over U.S. border detention fears
Rocker Neil Young, author Ali Hazelwood among those cancelling or sharing concerns
A wave of musicians, poets and novelists say they are reconsidering upcoming tours and travel over fears of getting detained at the U.S. border or arrested within the country.
Canadian-born rock icon Neil Young, U.S. best-selling romance novelist Ali Hazelwood, Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, and British punk rock band UK Subs are among those who have either recently cancelled upcoming tours, worry what will happen if they do go on tour or say they have already been denied entry to the United States.
Young, a dual Canadian-American citizen best known for such hits as Heart of Gold, Cinnamon Girl, and Harvest Moon, didn't say he was cancelling his tour but expressed concerns about it. He wrote on his website on Tuesday that he's worried his public criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump could lead to issues at the border.
This comes amid reports that others who have been critical of the president have been detained or turned away.
"When I go to play music in Europe, if I talk about Donald J. Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminum blanket," Young wrote in the post.
"If I come back from Europe and am barred, can't play my USA tour, all of the folks who bought tickets will not be able to come to a concert by me."
Young is scheduled to start his Love Earth world tour in Sweden in June, with performances across Europe — including a set at the Glastonbury Festival in England — before playing shows in Canada and the U.S. in the fall. In another post on March 31, Young wrote, "if you don't agree with our government, you are barred from entering or sent to jail."
Meanwhile, best-selling romance novelist Ali Hazelwood has cancelled her April book tour in the U.K. over similar fears. Hazelwood, who was born in Italy but lives in the U.S., is the author of several BookTok sensations, including Deep End, The Love Hypothesis and Bride.
"It breaks my heart to do this, especially so last minute," Hazelwood, who uses a pen name, wrote in a post on her social media accounts on Wednesday.
"This is because of several complicated reasons that mostly boil down to the fact that, things being what they are, it's not possible for me to safely travel outside and then back inside the U.S.," she added.
"All I can say is: I hope things change quickly, I hope to be able to travel abroad soon, and I am deeply thankful for your support and your understanding."
Other singers stopped
CBC News has reached out to publicists for both Hazelwood and Young. Hazelwood's team declined to provide a statement. Young's team has not yet responded.
But their concerns aren't without merit.
There have been multiple reports of people being detained at the border, denied entry or locked up for weeks at detention facilities while attempting to leave or enter the U.S since Trump took office on Jan. 20. Several high-profile incidents of tourists and visa holders being stopped at U.S. border crossings, or arrested within the U.S., have made headlines in the last few weeks.
Last month, a Halifax-based folk music duo said police who pulled them over on an Ohio highway accused them of having drugs in their rental car and questioned them about their allegiance in a strange interaction that lasted nearly an hour. Police say the traffic stop has been misrepresented.
Sisters Cassie and Maggie MacDonald of the group Cassie and Maggie were driving a rental car on Interstate 70 in March and were talking on the phone with their mother when they noticed they were being followed by a police cruiser. The sisters told CBC Nova Scotia that the officers who stopped them asked if they preferred Canada or the U.S.
"I certainly didn't feel like saying Canada would have been the answer they were looking for," Maggie MacDonald said.
Also in March, members of the British punk rock band UK Subs said they were denied entry to the U.S. Bassist Alvin Gibbs shared the details in a Facebook post on March 19, explaining that he and two other band members were flagged at the immigration booth after an 11-hour flight from Europe for a performance at a Los Angeles punk festival.
Officials flagged two issues, Gibbs wrote: that he didn't have the right visa for entry and that there was "another issue, which they wouldn't disclose."
"I'm now wondering if my regular and less than flattering public pronouncements regarding their president and his administration were a factor," he wrote.
Gibbs wrote that his luggage, passport and phone were taken from him, and he was held at the airport for 25 hours before being escorted onto a flight back home.
Students detained, poet cancels events
The U.S. administration has also used its immigration enforcement powers to crack down on international students and scholars at several American universities who had participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations or criticized Israel over its military action in Gaza. The Associated Press has tracked about 10 students who have recently been detained.
For instance, a University of Minnesota graduate business student is currently being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Doğukan Günaydın, 28, a Turkish citizen, says two plainclothes federal officers arrested him on the street outside his St. Paul, Minn., home while he was on his way to class last Thursday. Günaydın was in the U.S. on a student visa.
And for that reason, award-winning Palestinian poet and author Mosab Abu Toha says he has cancelled all of his upcoming events. Toha, who was born in the Gaza Strip and fled to the U.S. in December 2023, wrote on social media late last week that he had 16 events scheduled for the next five weeks at several U.S. universities, including Stanford, Columbia, NYU and Cornell.
"Unfortunately I had to cancel all my upcoming events in the United States as I felt unsafe traveling, especially after watching students and university professors abducted on the street just in front of other people," Toha, the author of Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, wrote on March 28.
"I even don't feel safe going out to pick up my kids from school. These threats made online against me and my family are vile. And the serious threats and actions against free speech are even more vile," he wrote.
"You cannot imagine how much I was waiting to meet you all, friends and others."
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With files from The Associated Press and CBC Nova Scotia