Can Neil Young Ever Become a U.S. Citizen?
In early 1966, Neil Young was riding in a 1953 Pontiac hearse with Buffalo Springfield bandmate Bruce Palmer when he crossed the U.S. border illegally for the first time. “I made up my mind that someday I was going to sneak in,” he wrote in his 2012 memoir Waging Heavy Peace. “I targeted L.A. because that was where all the music was happening.” They told the U.S. immigration guard they were on their way to Vancouver, but were driving through the States because the roads were better. He permitted them through, not knowing that he’d stay for the next five decades or that the hearse contained six containers of weed. “We were laughing our way into the promised land,” he said.
Two years later, Young would be arrested in an infamous drug bust alongside Eric Clapton, Jim Messina, Richie Furay and others while jamming too loud at Stephen Stills’ home in Topanga Canyon. Young and Clapton were only found guilty of disturbing the neighbors; Stills fled the police by escaping out his back window. “I should’ve manned up,” he recalled in the 2019 documentary Echo in the Canyon. “I’ve never lived that down and felt awful about it ever since.”
More than fifty years later, the climate is drastically different than when Young first crossed the border. The Hall of Famer has been living in the States for more than 50 years, but he’s still not a citizen. On November 8th, days before his 74th birthday, he informed fans that his attempt to become naturalized had been delayed due to the “good moral character” provision on the immigrant application aka he has admitted to smoking too much weed. In a post titled “I Have Been Very Successful In My Life,” Young wrote that he wants to “be a dual citizen and vote,” and that he answered questions truthfully during the interview and passed the test.
The naturalization process consists of confirming your biographical information, taking an English reading test and answering 10 basic civics questions. Applicants must answer six of them correctly in order to pass. “I have been told that I must do another test, due to my use of marijuana and how some people who smoke it have exhibited a problem,” he said. He also noted former Attorney General Jeff Sessions‘ policy memorandum, which states that an applicant involved in marijuana lacks good moral character. “I will keep you posted, but I don’t think I will be able to remain parked here during the proceedings,” he wrote.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/neil-young-american-citizenship-911730/
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