French Activist Denied Entry to United States, Cornell Says

French Activist Denied Entry to United States, Cornell Says


February 9, 2006
French Activist Denied Entry to United States, Cornell Says
By JENNIFER 8. LEE
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leading French antiglobalism activist, scheduled to speak at a conference co-sponsored by Cornell University, was denied entry into the United States at Kennedy International Airport yesterday, Cornell officials said.
José Bové, who has attracted worldwide attention for his protests against fast food and free trade, arrived on a flight from France but was put on a 10:55 p.m. flight back to France, officials of the United States Customs and Border Protection agency said.
The reason, one official said, was that Mr. Bové had a record of criminal convictions and therefore was not eligible for the visa-waiver program that allows visitors from many European countries to enter the United States using only their passports.
Mr. Bové, 52, had served time for several protest activities, including episodes where he smashed windows of a McDonald's near his home in 1999, damaged a field of genetically modified rice in 1999, and destroyed a field of gene-modified crops in 1998.
Mr. Bové had been scheduled to speak at the Global Unions Conference, which begins today in New York City, said Sean Sweeney, director of Cornell's Global Labor Institute and an organizer of the conference. The conference, with 300 participants from 55 countries, focused on how union organizers had to develop international strategies to combat the rising multinational corporations and the globalization of finance.
Mr. Bové had planned to meet with Joseph Stiglitz, the former chief economist of the World Bank who has been a critic of globalization.
Thomas W. Bruce, a spokesman for Cornell University, said, "When researchers and scholars are denied first-hand experience and world experiences about the issues at hand of this conference, then we all lose."