Neil Young faced “ridiculous” treatment from Donald Trump’s administration, according to Daryl Hannah
After Neil Young recently admitted he fears not being allowed back into the United States following the conclusion of his European tour, his filmmaker wife, Daryl Hannah, has said he faced “ridiculous” treatment when securing US citizenship during Donald Trump’s first presidency.
Despite living in the United States since the 1960s, Young, who was born in Canada, didn’t become a citizen until 2020, when Trump was first in power. According to Hannah, it was an elongated process that saw Young facing unnecessary challenges in his bid to secure citizenship
“They tried to every trick in the book to mess him up, and made him keep coming back to be re-interviewed and re-interviewed. It’s ridiculous,” she said in a new interview with the BBC. “He’s been living in America and paying taxes here since he was in his 20s.”
Hannah, whose new film on Young entitled Coastal is set for release on April 17th, then expressed her fears about the new administration, stating, “They’ve been detaining people who have green cards or visas – which is hideous and horrifying – but they have not, so far, been refusing to let American citizens back in the country, so I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
It comes after Young recently penned a blog post criticising the current regime, admitting, “When I go to play music in Europe, if I talk about Donald J. Trump, I may be one of those returning to America who is barred or put in jail to sleep on a cement floor with an aluminum blanket.”
He continued: “If the fact that I think Donald Trump is the worst president in the history of our great country could stop me from coming back, what does that say for Freedom? I love America and its people and its music and its culture.”
This summer, Young will headline Glastonbury Festival and BST Hyde Park in the UK and play a series of huge outdoor dates in mainland Europe. Upon his return home, he will tour across North America with The Chrome Hearts, provided he’s not banned.
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