According to CBS News, Australia’s Immigration Minister Tony Burke revealed the news about Ye while discussing Israeli-American tech personality Hillel Fuld with Australia’s local ABC television network. Fuld had his visa revoked for posting online that “Islamophobia is rational.” Burke said, “Most of the visas that have been cancelled under this section have been where someone was seeking to make a public speech. The only one I can think of where it wasn’t for public advocacy—the visa—but we cancelled it anyway, would be Kanye West.”
Ye’s wife Bianca Censori is from Melbourne, Australia, and the artist has been traveling to the country “for a long time,” Burke said. “He’s made a lot of offensive comments that my officials looked at again once he released the Heil Hitler song, and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia.” He added, “If you’re going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don’t need that in Australia. We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.”
The visa process has been making headlines across the globe this week as the United States revoked visas for the punk rap duo Bob Vylan ahead of its fall tour. (The group has been condemned for anti-Israel sentiment at Glastonbury for chants including “Death, death to the IDF.”) Over in Australia, Ye’s ban is not necessarily permanent; Burke says “every visa application gets reassessed by my officials each time.” However, when asked if the ban was “sustainable” given Ye’s global popularity, Burke replied: “I think that what’s not sustainable is to import hatred.”
