"It was then that the American authorities turned up the facts about my past as an anarchist activist---the past from which I had already distanced myself mentally. At that time I was working on the final revision of my book, and Proudhon was much in my mind on the day I went down to the consulate in Vancouver for the crucial interview. I imagine that my past as editor of _Freedom_ was enough, under the McCarran Act, to keep me out, but the consul had the air of giving me a last chance when he asked if I was still an anarchist. I thought a moment and, with Proudhon in my mind, answered, 'fundamentally and philosophically, yes.' It was enough for him, and for me. I was excluded in perpetuity from the United States, the only country in the world I have been unable to enter, and I settled down with great satisfaction to be a writer in my own country, which I have in no way regretted." - writer and anarchist George Woodcock, on being denied entry into the United States to take a job at the University of Washington. This was done under the McCarran Act, which allowed U.S. officials to deny entry into the U.S. of those people espousing foreign ideas and alien philosophies. Current (1995) US "anti-terrorist" legislation has features very similar to the (repealed) McCarran Act.
