John Lennon vs. the USA

The Inside Story of the Most Bitterly Contested and Influential Deportation Case in United States History

By: Leon Wildes

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

At a time when the hottest issue in US immigration law is the proposed action by President Obama to protect from deportation as many as five million illegals in the United States, the John Lennon case takes on special relevance, notwithstanding the passage of 40 years since he was placed in deportation proceedings. This is John and Yoko's incredible story, as told by the lawyer who fought in the front lines.

In 1972 President Richard M. Nixon learned that John Lennon was visiting the United States. Nixon was told that Lennon's continued presence here could be catastrophic to his plan for reelection. Lennon, who had just made an appearance before an audience of 15,000 young fans at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, was rumored to be planning to join Jerry Rubin to lead a series of rock music rallies to "Dump Nixon" in anticipation of the 1972 Republican National Convention. The special significance of the 1972 convention was the fact that this would be the first national election in which the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18, adding 5 to 10 million new prospective voters. Nixon was not popular with this young group. Lennon was.

Indeed, Senator Strom Thurmond had just written a Dear John letter to Nixon's attorney general, John Mitchell, suggesting that deporting Lennon quickly would be an "appropriate countermeasure". John Mitchell was the head of CREEP, the Committee to Reelect the President; his day job was as attorney general, in charge of deporting illegal aliens. Following the Watergate-style advice of his legal counsel, John Dean, Nixon decided to "use the available political machinery to screw our political enemies" and proceeded in earnest to deport Lennon and his artist wife, Yoko Ono.

Lennon and Ono consulted Leon Wildes, an expert in the field of immigration law, about the reason for their visit: their efforts to locate and secure custody of Kyoko, Yoko's American eight-year-old child by a prior marriage. American courts had granted Lennon and Ono custody, and Ono's prior husband violated the order to produce the child in court, as ordered. Notwithstanding the Lennons' humanitarian requests, extensions of stay as visitors were denied, the Lennons were placed in strict deportation proceedings, and the US commissioner of immigration instructed the Immigrant and Naturalization Service (INS) not to adjudicate the "outstanding artists" applications filed for Lennon and Ono by Wildes until after the Lennons were deported.

Wildes kept the Lennons here for five years, despite the efforts of the government to deport them. During all that time, the Nixon administration invariably claimed that the Lennons were being treated like all other aliens and that it had no authority to make exceptions to their strict enforcement and removal of deportable aliens.

©2016 Leon Wildes (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Totally appreciate this piece of history!

For me, the perfect balance of personal and legal information. I felt like I was actually following Wilde in real time and in the end as if I were only sitting in a cozy room listening to a great storyteller before me. I may not, all together, understand the legal stuff but I, now, understand more to say how important it was that Mr Wilde wrote this book. I was about Kyoko's age when this happened, living in a small farming community, I only knew bits of the trouble that the Lennon's were in. This book gives great insight into what happened. Being a lover of Lennon's music and a normal person trying to follow the political/legal/historical happenings of current times, Thank you! this piece of historu helps there also.

New look at John

I expected second-tier political/legal intrigue, more interesting than memorable. What I found was the most revealing book on John Lennon's humanity. In the score of Beatles/Lennon books, documentaries and journalism, we've come to know John's public persona: wise-cracking humor, defensively aloof, sometimes harshly critical. In this book, I found the common decency of a kind man who never failed those around him.

love this book it is well worth the read

this was a fantastic book one worth your time enjoyed it immensely it was highly informative

Great for lawyers

As a retired immigration attorney, I found the legal strategy to be exceptional. The book gives great insight into the humanity of John Lennon and Yokohama Ono.

Surprisingly entertaining

I really enjoyed this book. Wonderful prose with an exceptional narrator. A marvelous “read.” The thing that I found most surprising is that Yoko Ono is truly a brave and strong person.

Finally I can Fill in the Details

All I knew is John Lennon had problems with immigration.
This is an excellent resource to learn that's so much more went on, and for a very long time.

Excellent book

Life is what happens to you, While you're busy making other plans- John Lennon. Thank you for an excellent book Mr. Leon Wildes

Important piece of history

I enjoyed hearing the history of JL and Yoko but at times the book was a little redundant and overall could have been edited. I appreciate the passion with which the author wanted to include all the details. In a way, I wonder if JL would still be alive today had he been deported.

Celebrity, Immigration, History

Informative and unbelievable! I didn't realize how important this story was to immigration rulings.

Compelling

A precise "unsexy" listen that is continually compelling you to continue. I enjoyed both performance and story.