America knows everything
While I agree that this person was probably treated very poorly, I also want to point out that they were traveling for work purposes.<p>In the United States, non-US citizens entering the country for work purposes are generally required to get a visa. There are a few (and very few at that) business exceptions to this process, as listed here: <a href="http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html" rel="nofollow">http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html</a><p>He stated that he was: Trying to work several unpaid shows, he would receive meals and tips as compensation at one or more shows, and then he was going to write articles for Noisey (<a href="http://noisey.vice.com/" rel="nofollow">http://noisey.vice.com/</a>) about it.<p>Bringing musical instruments with you (and admitting you are a musician - even if just as a 'hobby') on a supposed tourism visit and going to one or more cities where you did not have relatives or explicit non-business reasons to be there probably immediately triggered an investigation as to why he did not have a visa / whether he required a visa for his visit.<p>Yes - our border control system is horrible. I totally grant that. But this person was also explicitly not playing by the work visa rules either.