The passport should have been enough, provided that he passed a background check or something. He wasn't actually working as an employee for a company, he was giving a lecture, providing a service. It was a short-term thing, which the passport should have covered. Visitors are given a limited number of days to visit in the US for business or personal reasons, IIRC. I could be wrong. It seems the number of days beyond that limitation requires a visa of some sort.

Want to know what really lit the fuse? So many illegal immigrants come into this country and not all of them are caught, the bulk that are caught usually are let go back into the US due to lack of jail space to hold them. That part is not as well enforced as they apparently did with Mr. McEwan, who was kind enough to stop and present a passport and tell the truth about what he was doing in the US.

In fact, there are over 7 million illegal immigrants that have been accounted for. [link|http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/01/31/illegal.immigration/index.html|http://www.cnn.com/2...ration/index.html] The number continues to grow. I'd rather they do something about those illegal immigrants than people like Mr. McEwan that actually contribute something to society and the economy.

Of course Herr^H^H^H^H President Bush has other ideas on what to do with those illegal immigrants:
[link|http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/07/bush.immigration/index.html|http://www.cnn.com/2...ration/index.html]
Temporary Work Permits? What next, recruit them for the military?