On January 31, award-winning movie José will make its United States premiere. As of right now, star Enrique Salanic – who plays a young, gay character who falls in love for the first time – will be absent from the red carpet. The Guatemalan actor has been blocked from entering the country, with the U.S. embassy in Guatemala considering him a “flight risk.”
The embassy denied his nonimmigrant visa applications twice. Salanic doesn’t have a permanent address in the United States and he lives with his parents in the Central American country, factors that contributed to the rejections. Despite this, Salanic is trying to make it in time for the premiere, according to The Wrap.
“Denying Enrique Salanic his entry visa to promote his work in a film produced, financed and distributed by American citizens and companies represents just one way in which the current administration’s immigration rules impact U.S. businesses, and it perpetuates the negative impression the world has of America,” said Paul Hudson, who works for distributor Outside Pictures. “Denying entry to a man who has already successfully studied in the U.S. just because he is from Guatemala is unjust and cruel.”
This case is yet another example of how President Donald Trump has built an invisible wall that deters all types of migration.