The Texas-based rock band Lord Buffalo has cancelled its European tour after its drummer, Yamal Said, was detained by US Customs and Border Protection on Monday.
Said was removed from a plane en route to the band’s summer tour and has had no contact with his bandmates for two days, according to amessageposted to the band’s Instagram account. Said is a Mexican citizen but a legal permanent resident of the United States, holder of a green card and resident of Austin since the 1980s, according to theAustin Chronicle.
“We are heartbroken to announce we have to cancel our upcoming European tour,” the bandwroteon Instagram on Wednesday. “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 [sic] 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,” the statement continued, “but we are focusing all of our energy and resources on Yamal’s safety and freedom.”
An update to the statement on Wednesday afternoon thanked fans for their support, and said Said had “secured the legal representation he needs”.
“We are waiting to hear what comes next,” they added. “We want to reiterate that we truly don’t know what’s going on. We have more questions than answers, but we will keep you posted as much as we can. At this time the family asks for privacy as they navigate the situation.”
According to the Chronicle, Said is a longtime staple of the music scene in Austin. He formerly played with the band the Black and works as a music instructor for the Texas School for the Blind.
The heavy psychedelic-Americana quartet were to embark on an eight-date European tour in support of their latest album Holus Bolus. The tour, alongside the Swedish band Orsak:Oslo, was scheduled to begin on 15 May in the Netherlands and wrap the following Friday in Iceland.
In their own statement, Orsak:Oslo, who will continue with the tour,wrote: “No one should be pulled off a plane and jailed for simply trying to travel and make art with their band. We won’t pretend to understand the full complexity of the situation, but this should not happen anywhere.”
Said’s arrest comes amid a broader crackdown on immigration and border entry from the Trump administration, which has includedsearching phonesfor text messages critical of Donald Trump. In the four months since the US president took office, several professional musicians have had issues leaving or entering the US.
In March, members of the British punk band UK Subssaidthey were denied entry and detained in the US, reportedly due to incorrect visas and a reason agents were unwilling to disclose. Bassist Alan Gibbs, who was sent back to the UK along with bandmates Marc Carrey and Stefan Häublein, speculated on social media “whether my frequent, and less than flattering, public comments regarding their president and his administration played a role – or perhaps I’m simply succumbing to paranoia”.
Additionally Bells Larsen, a trans singer-songwriter based in Montreal,toldthe Guardian that he was canceling a tour because he could not apply for a visa under new US citizenship and immigration services policies that do not recognize transgender identities. The British singerFKA twigscancelledseveral North American dates of her Eusexa tour because of unspecified visa issues. And Grzegorz Kwiatkowski, of the Polish rock band Trupa Trupa toldNPRthat visa delays forced him and his band to miss out on several North American performance opportunities.
The Guardian has reached out to Lord Buffalo’s representatives for comment.