Big win for immigrant performers as Actors' Equity removes green card restrictions
In what is being described as a momentous win for immigrant performers, Actors’ Equity Association(AEA) has voted to remove membership restrictions for performers who are not U.S. citizens or do not have a green card. The move occurred at the union’s national convention. The resolution was approved at the delegate convention and then approved by a vote by the national council.
The resolution was spearheaded by actress Jessica Wu. She announced the news on her Facebook page.
The change will mean that immigrant performers will be able to join the union and no longer be turned away from union productions for not having a green card or not being a citizen. They will also be afforded the same benefits as performers with U.S. citizenship. In the past, even if a performer had valid work visas such as the O1, they would still be denied from being cast in Broadway productions.
Many performers saw this policy as discriminatory towards immigrant performers.
“This is huge for the immigrant artist community as we have dealt with AEA's discrimination for years,” a source told me.
While the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), as directed by Congress, sets the visa requirements for immigrant performers who want to work in the United States, AEA’s reasoning for their previous policy is unclear - especially given that SAG-AFTRA doesn’t appear to have any restrictions. But the change will certainly make waves for performers who were turned away no matter how many EMC points they had or cast in a Broadway show.
After the announcement was made, many celebrated the change on social media.
The Actors’ Equity delegate convention began on April 25th and concluded on the 27th.