Dangerous Bunny skipped touring the U.S. as a consequence of issues about ICE. Are different artists subsequent? : NPR

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Ricardo Arduengo/AFP through Getty Photos In an interview with I-D journal earlier this month, megastar Puerto Rican singer and rapper Dangerous Bunny mentioned he selected to not do any live performance dates within the 50 states throughout his present world tour, as a result of he is afraid that ICE, as he mentioned, "may very well be exterior my live performance." As an alternative, he did 30 reveals in Puerto Rico, which reportedly introduced a whole lot of hundreds of thousands of tourism {dollars} to the island.

As a Puerto Rican, Dangerous Bunny is, after all, a U.S. citizen. Performers from different nations are dealing with further points — notably hurdles in securing visas.

Performers, occasion presenters, reserving brokers and attorneys inform NPR that they're coping with plenty of uncertainty proper now – they usually have been very hesitant to talk on the report. They worry retaliation, together with by those that maintain decision-making energy over visa approvals or from those that maintain monetary sway, as a result of they management state, native or personal funding.

Dangerous Bunny publicly expressed issues that his Latino followers can be focused for ICE enforcement. What does the Division of Homeland Safety say? <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2667x2667+667+0/resize/100/quality/100/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F65%2Fbc%2F03b40ac541aa835dd54241b94d87%2F20250727-npr-bad-bunny-residencia-49.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2667x2667+667+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F65%2Fbc%2F03b40ac541aa835dd54241b94d87%2F20250727-npr-bad-bunny-residencia-49.jpg" data-format="jpeg" class="img lazyOnLoad" alt="Bad Bunny performs at the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, known as ‘El Choli’, for his residency concert on Sunday, July 27, 2025, in San Juan, P.R. " loading="lazy"/>

In a written assertion to NPR Thursday, assistant DHS secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote:

"Dangerous Bunny is both critically misinformed about ICE operations or is utilizing regulation enforcement as an excuse as a result of he will not be capable of promote tickets in the USA. ICE will not be raiding live performance venues. Pop stars selecting to fearmonger and demonize ICE regulation enforcement are contributing to the almost 1,000% enhance in assaults on ICE officers. If Sabrina Carpenter and Tate McRae are happening tour, so can he."

The Division of Homeland Safety has not offered additional particulars or proof about these assault claims; in July, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem outlined violence towards ICE officers as together with doxxing brokers and videotaping officers.

Are different performers expressing related issues? Folks within the leisure and the humanities industries say they proceed to be involved. In July, group leaders and native officers in Chicago accused federal brokers of focusing on attendees on the Nationwide Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Tradition, and shared video of ICE brokers at their museum. The Division of Homeland Safety denied these accusations on the time. Regardless, people working in tradition and leisure are nervous about related conditions probably taking place at their occasions.

What about international artists who need to come to the USA? Overseas guests coming to the U.S. as entertainers have to have a particular form of work visa, and a few artists and presenters have had dates canceled or delayed as a consequence of visa points. Earlier this month, the Korean boy band Be:Max was compelled to cancel U.S. tour dates, saying that their visas had been canceled near their deliberate appearances. (NPR reached out repeatedly to Be:Max and their live performance promoters, however didn't obtain any replies.) In July, the duo TwoSet Violin postponed various U.S. dates when its member Brett Yang, an Australian violinist, had his preliminary visa utility rejected.

However there at the moment are new monetary and logistical hurdles to beat within the technique of getting a visa. Earlier this month, the State Division introduced that candidates need to return to their nation of nationality or full-time residency to use for visas to go to the U.S. And that creates massive, costly problems for performers who earn their cash touring the world.

What does this imply for artists? This is a hypothetical instance: Say a performer initially from India desires to use to come back do a tour within the U.S. — however they're briefly working in Belgium. It was once that they may go to the U.S. consulate in Belgium for his or her U.S. visa interview. The State Division is now saying no, they need to fly house to India to use and be interviewed there. That prices some huge cash and time, particularly for touring teams with massive bands and crews. As it's, visa functions can price upwards of $8,000 per particular person, together with authorized charges.

NPR reached out to the State Division for remark, which mentioned that they're "upholding the best requirements of nationwide safety and public security by means of our visa course of."

So how lengthy does the visa course of take? As of proper now, the federal government's web site estimates that for the varieties of visas visiting performers usually use (O and P class visas), it can take seven months. Immigration attorneys inform NPR that seven months is an optimistic estimate — and are advising their purchasers to count on the method to take even longer. So if an artist desires to come back carry out within the U.S. in Sept. 2026, they'd finest get transferring. And that's going to have an effect on which touring artists might in the end determine to decide like Dangerous Bunny and say, "Given the present circumstances, by no means thoughts. We'll simply skip the USA for now."