According to United States law, the White House is obliged to respond to petitions which gain more than 100,000 signatures within just 30 days, and with 177,784 signatures currently appealing for Bieber’s deportation, the matter will have to be considered by the government.
The petition was kick-started following Bieber’s arrest for drink-driving and other offences in Miami last week and support has only grown stronger after the singer was arrested again yesterday for assaulting a limousine driver in Toronto.
And while the petition was posted to the government’s ‘We The People’ platform, citing that Bieber ‘is not only threatening the safety of our people but he is also a terrible influence on our nation’s youth’, it is unlikely the singer will have his green card
revoked by the Obama administration.
DUIs and drag-racing are not deportable offenses, and although immigration visas can be revoked in the event of violent crime, yesterday’s limousine incident took place in Canada.
Meanwhile, as the anti-Bieber petition is fast gaining momentum, a rival petition calling for the singer to stay in the United States has not been anywhere near as successful, gathering only 2,500 signatures at this point.
Last year, UK journalist and chat show host Piers Morgan was the subject of the same petition after 109,000 supporters called him the most unpopular person living in America and demanded his deportation.
Other pop culture petitions asking for government intervention have included calls for the construction of a Death Star (to which the White House responded: “The Administration does not support blowing up planets”) and calls to cancel Jimmy Kimmel Live! after what was considered an offensive segment on the show.
Bieber’s criminal proceedings will take place on Valentine’s Day, February 14, and his brand new video for the single Confident debuts on Vevo and YouTube today.
Image credit: Getty
