Editing John Lennon (section)

===Deportation attempt===
[[File:John Lennon en echtgenote Yoko Ono vertrekken van Schiphol naar Wenen in de vert, Bestanddeelnr 922-2494.jpg|thumb|Lennon with Ono in 1969]]<!-- Put in-line references into this article from books (with page numbers) or from web pages. -->
Following the impact of "Give Peace a Chance" and "[[Happy Xmas (War Is Over)]]" on the anti-war movement, the Nixon administration heard rumours of Lennon's involvement in a concert to be held in San Diego at the same time as the [[1972 Republican National Convention]]{{sfn|Wiener|1999|p=2}} and tried to have him deported. Nixon believed that Lennon's anti-war activities could cost him his reelection;{{sfn|BBC News|2000}} Republican Senator [[Strom Thurmond]] suggested in a February 1972 memo that "deportation would be a strategic counter-measure" against Lennon.{{sfn|Wiener|1990|p=225}} The next month the United States [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]] (INS) began deportation proceedings, arguing that his 1968 misdemeanour conviction for cannabis possession in London had made him ineligible for admission to the United States. Lennon spent the next {{frac|3|1|2}} years in and out of deportation hearings until 8 October 1975, when a court of appeals barred the deportation attempt, stating "the courts will not condone selective deportation based upon secret political grounds".{{sfn|Coleman|1992|pp=576–583}}{{sfn|BBC News|2006a}} While the legal battle continued, Lennon attended rallies and made television appearances. He and Ono co-hosted ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]'' for a week in February 1972, introducing guests such as [[Jerry Rubin]] and [[Bobby Seale]] to mid-America.{{sfn|BBC News|2006c}} In 1972, [[Bob Dylan]] wrote a letter to the INS defending Lennon, stating:

<blockquote>John and Yoko add a great voice and drive to the country's so-called art institution. They inspire and transcend and stimulate and by doing so, only help others to see pure light and in doing that, put an end to this dull taste of petty commercialism which is being passed off as Artist Art by the overpowering mass media. Hurray for John and Yoko. Let them stay and live here and breathe. The country's got plenty of room and space. Let John and Yoko stay!<ref>Wiener, Jon. [http://www.thenation.com/print/blog/155298/bob-dylans-defense-john-lennon "Bob Dylan's defense of John Lennon".] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502162859/http://www.thenation.com/print/blog/155298/bob-dylans-defense-john-lennon |date=2 May 2015}} ''[[The Nation]]'', 8 October 2010</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lennonfbifiles.com/natl_comm_john_yoko/bob_dylan.html |title=Photo Copy of Bob Dylan's 1972 Letter to the INS in Defense of John Lennon |publisher=Lennonfbifiles.com |access-date=8 December 2010 |archive-date=13 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713200731/http://lennonfbifiles.com/natl_comm_john_yoko/bob_dylan.html |url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

On 23 March 1973, Lennon was ordered to leave the US within 60 days.{{sfn|Wiener|1999|p=326}} Ono, meanwhile, was granted permanent residence. In response, Lennon and Ono held a press conference on 1 April 1973 at the [[New York City Bar Association]], where they announced the formation of the state of [[Nutopia]]; a place with "no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people".{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=663}} Waving the white flag of Nutopia (two handkerchiefs), they asked for political asylum in the US. The press conference was filmed, and appeared in a 2006 documentary, ''[[The U.S. vs. John Lennon]]''.{{sfn|Urish|Bielen|2007|p=143}}{{refn|group=nb|Lennon's ''[[Mind Games (John Lennon album)|Mind Games]]'' (1973) included the track "Nutopian International Anthem", which comprised three seconds of silence.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=664}}}} Soon after the press conference, Nixon's involvement in a political scandal came to light, and in June the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] hearings began in [[Washington, D.C.]]. They led to the president's resignation 14 months later.{{sfn|Coleman|1984a|p=289}} In December 1974, when he and members of his tour entourage visited the [[White House]], Harrison asked [[Gerald Ford]], Nixon's successor, to intercede in the matter.{{sfn|Lavezzoli|2006|p=196}} Ford's administration showed little interest in continuing the battle against Lennon, and the deportation order was overturned in 1975. The following year, Lennon received his [[green card]] certifying his [[permanent residency]], and when [[Jimmy Carter]] was inaugurated as president in January 1977, Lennon and Ono attended the Inaugural Ball.{{sfn|Coleman|1984a|p=289}}