The United States has deported Australian activist, author, and TV personality Yassmin Abdel-Magied because she didn't have the proper visa for entering the country.

Ms. Abdel-Magied is a strong and often provocative advocate for Muslim women.  She had arrived in Minneapolis before a planned trip to New York where she was to speak at the PEN World Voices festival on a panel called "The M Word: No country for young Muslim women".  But customs said she didn't have a work visa:

"During the inspection, CBP officers determined this individual did not possess the appropriate visa to receive monetary compensation for the speaking engagements she had planned during her visit to the United States," said spokesperson from the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).  "As such, she was deemed inadmissible to enter the United States for her visit, but was allowed to withdraw her application for admission.  The traveler is eligible to reapply for a visa for future visits."

Abdel-Magied live tweeted the entire episode, noting that the border security officer examined the case for only a few minutes before telling her she was being sent back.  The chief executive of the PEN festival is dismayed.

"The very purpose of the PEN World Voices Festival, founded after 9/11 to sustain the connectedness between the US and the wider world, is in jeopardy at a time when efforts at visa bans and tightened immigration restrictions threaten to choke off vital channels of dialogue that are protected under the First Amendment right to receive and impart information through in-person cultural exchange," said Suzanne Nossel of PEN America.