A guy named George from Ghana found me on facebook. He is one of several people that have come across my profile while looking up things like “feedom” and “free market.” It’s gratifying to have other people with similar outlooks get in touch with me.
He is an advocate of free markets and freedom in general and uses those ideas to try to help people in his country. He is currently working for a company called “Save the Village.” If I understand correctly, the idea is to foster economic development in villages in order to keep them viable.
In any case, George was invited to go to a conference put on by the Mackinak Center for Public Policy. They are an organization that promotes free market thinking in Michigan. Talk about a tall order… Anyway, they are an organization that encourages liberty, freedom, etc.
Here’s the thing, George was refused a tourist visa to come to the US. Why? Because he’s not married… I’m familiar with visa issues for people in Yemen and I can kind of understand the State department’s wariness about letting the wrong person go to the states. I had never heard of not being married as a reason for being denied entry into the US before.
It sounds as though they are worried that he won’t come back to Ghana. They have deemed that he does not have enough “ties” to guarantee his return. The fact that he works to promote the long term viability of village in Ghana and the fact that he was attending a conference to promote freedom and economic liberty wasn’t enough for him. He needs to be married. The irony of being denied a visa to the US to attend a conference on liberty is sickening…