To the editor: The story about the Mexican band whose visas were revoked, resulting in cancellation of their U.S. tour dates, is among a number of concerning actions by the Trump administration to silence speech and speakers of which it disapproves (“U.S. revokes visas of Mexican band members accused of ‘glorifying’ drug kingpin,” April 2).
It appears that a photo of a person linked to a drug cartel was flashed on a screen during a concert outside of Guadalajara. This is the stated reason for the revocation of the visas. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau is quoted as saying, “I’m a firm believer in freedom of expression, but that doesn’t mean that expression should be free of consequences.”
Yes! Yes, it does. Particularly consequences imposed by the federal government. Particularly against expression or persons disfavored by the administration. That’s precisely the expression the 1st Amendment is meant to protect.
Chris Taber, Long Beach
