Why can’t Nigella Lawson enter the U.S. but Rob Ford can?

Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson can't fly to the U.S. after admitting to using drugs, the latest in a line of famous people facing trouble at the border.

British chef Nigella Lawson at a London court last December. The U.S. Embassy in London said Lawson was denied permission to board a flight to the United States on the weekend.

By: Joel Eastwood Star Reporter

British celebrity chef Nigella Lawson has been denied entry to the U.S. after admitting to using drugs, the latest celebrity snared by the fickle nature of the American border.

The TV cook was stopped from boarding a flight from Heathrow airport to Los Angeles on Sunday, the U.S. Embassy in London said Thursday.

The case underscores the capricious judgment of U.S. border officers: if Lawson can’t fly to L.A. because she came clean about using cocaine, why could Toronto Mayor Rob Ford appear onJimmy Kimmel in L.A. after admitting to smoking crack cocaine?

Fellow celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain expressed outrage over this apparent double standard on Twitter Thursday: “Toronto mayor, Rob Ford? Welcome to the USA. Nigella Lawson? No. REALLY? Absolutely appalling misuse of our system. And by whom? How?”he tweeted.

Lawson is far from the first famous personality to run into trouble at the U.S. border.

In 2008, British singer Amy Winehouse was denied entry to the U.S. to attend the Grammy Awards. Singer Lily Allen was stripped of her work visa in 2007, jeopardizing a U.S. tour. And in 2004, Yusuf Islam, who performed in the 1970s as folk singer Cat Stevens, wasput on a no-fly list by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Under U.S. immigration law, border guards can bar a non-U.S. citizen from entering the country for all sorts of reasons, including anyone convicted of violating the law — either in the U.S. or their home country — relating to a controlled substance.

But a guilty verdict isn’t necessary for a border guard to slam the door. If you admit to “committing acts which constitute the essential elements” of a crime — namely, buying, using or trafficking drugs — that alone is grounds to refuse entry, whether or not you’ve actually been charged or convicted.

In December, Lawson told a London courtroom she had used cocaine and smoked marijuana. The revelations came as part of Lawson’s testimony in the fraud trial of two former employees.

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Lynne Platt said Thursday that Lawson was stopped from traveling Sunday and had subsequently been invited to the embassy to apply for a visa.

Normally, U.K. citizens can travel to the U.S. for up to 90 days without requiring a visa. But travelers who have been arrested or are “drug abusers or addicts” must apply for a visa, according to the U.S. Embassy’s website, which can take up to six months.

A spokesman for Lawson declined comment.

So how did Mayor Ford make it past border agents last month when he flew to the U.S. to appear on a talk show, after publically admitting to smoking crack cocaine?

U.S. Customs and Border Protection refuses to comment on individual cases, citing privacy concerns. But speaking generally, a spokesperson said border officers have discretionary authority to choose whether to ask about drug use.

“Sometimes they ask. Sometimes they don’t ask,” said Jaime Ruiz, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

In the case of Ford, the particular U.S. border agent who spoke to the mayor at Pearson airport must have chosen not to ask him about drugs, said Joel Sandaluk, a Toronto immigration lawyer.

“It’s hard to imagine a U.S. border officer who is unfamiliar with Rob Ford — I mean, he’s introduced in the American media as Toronto’s crack-smoking mayor,” Sandaluk said.

“All I can imagine is the officer who he encountered at the airport simply followed a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach to it,” he said.

But that doesn’t mean Ford won’t run into trouble in the future if he tries to enter the U.S. again.

“It depends on the officer. It depends on the day,” Sandaluk said. “Two different people can look at the same case on the same day, they can reach two opposite conclusions and both be correct — because ultimately, it’s a judgment call made by that individual officer.”

With files from the Associated Press