What a wonderful time we’re all living in. Nazis are emboldened and on the rise, tariffs are going to send our economy into a tailspin, and our fascist president has a not-so-secret police force of jackbooted thugs rounding people up for deportation to an El Salvadorian prison. Usually you’d love to be able to turn to music to avoid those realities, but that’s not the case for Lord Buffalo.
In a social media post made just a couple hours ago, the band announced that their upcoming European tour was canceled because their drummer Yamal Said had been picked up by the American Ges… I mean, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. According to the band, they were on their flight to Europe when Said was forcibly removed from the plane before it took off from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Said, the band said, is a Mexican citizen but he has a Green Card here in the U.S. During normal times, that classification would designate Said as a lawful United States resident, but being an American citizen doesn’t preclude you from being deported anymore. As long as you’re too brown, you can be picked up by dudes in plain clothes, tossed into an unmarked van, and disappeared to some Latin American gulag.
According to the band, they’ve not been able to get in contact with Said, nor do they know where he is at this time. And that’s with Said having an immigration lawyer ready and waiting to help. You can read their full statement below.
“We are heartbroken to announce we have to cancel our upcoming European tour. Our drummer, Yamal Said, who is a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States (green card holder) was forcibly removed from our flight to Europe by Customs and Border Patrol at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday May 12. He has not been released, and we have been unable to contact him.
“We are currently working with an immigration lawyer to find out more information and to attempt to secure his release. We are devastated to cancel this tour, but we are focusing all of our energy and resources on Yamal’s safety and freedom. We are hopeful that this is a temporary setback and that it could be safe for us to reschedule this tour in the future. In our absence, our touring partners Orsak:Oslo will continue to perform the tour. We urge everyone to go see this amazing band and support them over the next couple weeks.”