Colombian journalist finally granted US visa

July 29 2010 by Liam Clifford

Hollman Morris's us visa has been granted

Granted a US visa

The US immigration department has finally backed down and has granted Colombian journalist, Hollman Morris, and has family US visas.

The visas will allow the family to live in the US for a year while Morris is undertaking a Nieman Foundation fellowship at Harvard, a course that is aimed at mid-career journalists.

Morris claimed that he was "Happy, happy!” after receiving the US visas and said it was “terrible” when he was told his application was rejected.

Neither Nieman Foundation curator, Robert Giles, nor Morris himself were given any explanation as to why the application had been rejected. All he was told was that he was permanently excluded from having a US visa on the grounds of the Patriot Act’s ‘terrorist activity” clause.

The decision attracted a large amount of criticism, including from the American Civil Liberties Union, which claimed the decision was an attack on free speech. Hilary Clinton, the Secretary of State, also protested the visa denial.

Morris says he blames the outgoing Colombian president, Alvaro Uribe, who he claims launched a smear campaign against him, calling him "an accomplice of terrorism."

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