Department of Homeland Security accused of trying to keep out Bolivian Professor

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Because the Department believed he may be linked to Bolivian President, Evo Morales.

"The University of Nebraska-Lincoln sued the Department of Homeland Security on Friday, stepping up an effort to bring a Bolivian professor to the state.

The university said in the lawsuit that federal officials should consider the visa petition of Waskar Ari, hired in June 2005 by UNL to teach courses on Latin American history. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The university petitioned the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for Ari's visa, submitted the required documentation and paid a $1,000 processing fee so he could enter the country in time to start teaching.

But when he returned to Bolivia from the United States for a visit last summer, Ari was told that his visa application had been delayed without explanation and that the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia, had been told by the State Department to cancel all existing visas.

His Washington, D.C.-based attorney, Michael Maggio, told the Lincoln Journal Star that the delay may be caused by a mistaken suggestion Ari is linked to Bolivian president Evo Morales, a frequent critic of the Bush administration."

http://www.beatricedailysun.com/articles/2007/03/06/ap-state-ne/d8nmnv281.txt