American indie musician Colleen Green deported on eve of tour for travelling on a tourist visa

Immigration officials questioned Los Angeles-based indie performer Colleen Greenover her visa and her plans while in Australia before she was detained overnight and then deported earlier this week.

“They (officers at the airport) took me to an interrogation room where I waited, was interrogated on tape, waited more, was interrogated more, waited more, and finally was told that my visa was being canceled (sic),” she wrote in a Facebook post from LA on Friday.

She was due to begin a four-date tour of Australia with fellow American band Harlem and local outfit Bleeding Knees Club.

Ms Green said her promoter, Bone Soup, told her they had secured a visa “and to just say I’m visiting friends and everything would be fine”.

“I really had no reason to doubt this as I have traveled (sic) all over the world to perform and have done so many times under the pretense (sic) of ‘tourism’ with no incident,” Ms Green said.

In a statement, Bone Soup said they thought Ms Green would be able to tour on an Electronic Travel Authority, which is a tourist visa.

“We wrongly believed that being a promotional break-even tour and having no band Colleen would be within the legal framework to enter the country,” it said in a statement.

“We know ignorance is no excuse and are deeply disappointed with ourselves on this.”

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection on its website states “you must not work in Australia on this (ETA) visa”.

Colleen Green — Whatever I Want