Chixdiggit Border Issues

From Chixdiggit's official site: "We have to cancel our US trip. The US immigration and Naturalization (INS) Department has a new policy under which each band member has to pay US$1000 and $1500 for roadies in order to get work permits within 35 days.

We applied for our permits on May 28th, approx 47 days ago. The American Federation of Musicians, through which we have obtained our work permits for the last 6 years without hassle, has informed us that the INS maintains they're backlogged with applications and that they have not responded to inquiry in the last two weeks...We have pursued every avenue of recourse known to us, and have been stonewalled at every turn. Our permits will be processed at some point, but no longer in time for the 1 week West Coast tour we have booked. We will attempts to rebook the tour at a later date. Our apologies for the inconvenience
Once again border issues screw up another tour...