I WOULD FILE THIS STORY under the usual “homeland security is still a joke” heading, but, really, I think it belongs under an “immigration policy is still a joke.” Or maybe it’s some of both. As Matt Welch puts it:

This regulation and a host of others like it were in place long before Congressional fries were liberated from the Vichy regime; what’s new is the enforcement. Since late last fall, when the Department of Homeland Security installed a comprehensive immigration database (the jauntily named Consular Lookout and Support System, or CLASS), yesterday’s minor visa transgression is today’s “no-entry” stamp.

Apparently it’s even possible that if journalists come to the United States as tourists and then write something about it, they may be barred entry in the future on the ground that they’ve violated the visa rules. That’s just wrong.