In May, I bought a plane ticket to Sheffield, England, for The Whickers Podcast Pitch Award 2026 scheduled for June 13. My partner’s podcast in development, The Riverbank, was a finalist, and we were invited to pitch before industry judges.
However, as of late February, the United Kingdom began strictly enforcing a requirement enacted in January 2025: U.S. citizens must have an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) to enter the U.K. Previously, they needed only a passport. Now, if you’ve been convicted of a crime with a jail or prison sentence of over 12 months, or you have a criminal conviction within the last 12 months, you are automatically denied entry. (If you are refused an ETA, you can apply for a Standard Visitor Visa, which has more barriers for entry.) More than 80 other countries and territories, including Canada and Australia, require ETAs.
The ETA process doesn’t allow room for proof of transformation. It simply treats a serious criminal conviction as proof of unworthiness, even when your lived experiences have turned you into an asset to society.
I was sentenced to serve double life sentences for 2nd-degree murder, attempted voluntary manslaughter and gun enhancements. I am truly sorry for those crimes and have sought to make amends every day by doing work that serves the community.
During 22 years of incarceration, I became a journalist, podcaster, filmmaker and co-founder of both the San Quentin Film Festival and Empowerment Avenue, which helps incarcerated creatives build careers before they leave prison and boasts a zero recidivism rate. My work on the Ear Hustle podcast contributed to its recognition as a Pulitzer Prize finalist. I became a restorative justice facilitator and graduated from college with an associate's degree.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted my sentence in January 2022. After being found suitable for release by a parole board and after the standard waiting period, I exited the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center on Feb. 8, 2023. Two years later, I was discharged from parole.
Spending 22 years in prison for murder and completely changing my life taught me solutions that I am deploying to help so many others.
Instead of applying for the ETA, my partner and I submitted for a Standard Travel Visa, which allowed us to submit paperwork making a case for being changed people. I submitted a letter from Gov. Newsom on why he commuted my sentence. I also submitted a letter from the Utah House of Representatives, along with proof of income, and the job I hold today as executive director of Empowerment Avenue.
I was still denied entry to the U.K. because my conviction was for a sentence over 12 months. That decision is unappealable.
We contacted a solicitor in England who said there was no realistic path forward under current U.K. immigration rules. A sentence served over 12 months triggers a mandatory ETA ban.
We thought at least my partner could go. She had a conviction at 20 years old for a serious felony and another felony conviction at 21. She only served 32 days in jail altogether, and had completed three years of probation. The U.K. denied her entry as well.
What struck me was that a horrible decision I made decades earlier could still outweigh everything that happened afterward. In my partner’s case, the system focused on a sentence imposed when she was a young adult, rather than the person she is today, in her late 30s.
I can understand why the U.K. considers criminal history. They have a legitimate responsibility to protect public safety. The U.S. also bans people with criminal records from entering our country, and folks who are convicted of crimes while they’re here often get their green cards revoked.
I am not arguing that my or anyone else’s record should disappear.
I am arguing that it should not be the only thing that matters.
Government systems need space for individualized review. Countries can protect public safety while considering how long ago an offense occurred, whether a sentence was completed, subsequent conduct, current risk, community support and evidence of rehabilitation.
Some of the most amazing people we know of have been locked up for longer than 30 days — Malcolm X, John Lewis and Nelson Mandela, for example.
I am certainly not comparing myself to them. I caused way more harm and have accomplished way less good. What I am saying is that a system that bans people from other countries or revokes green cards because of a criminal record could be banning assets from their society.
Look at the brothers who work for California’s Richmond Office of Neighborhood Safety. Once convicted of homicide, these so-called Neighborhood Change Agents use their street credibility to stop murders, with amazing results. They've helped Richmond cut the number of firearm homicides in half, from 10 in 2024 to five in 2025, according to their 2025 data report.
Look at Susan Burton. She was in and out of prison before founding A New Way of Life Reentry Project, a Los Angeles-based organization that provides women on parole with transitional housing. The street credibility, the personal connections, the lived experiences, and the remorse makes people like us part of protecting society. We are no longer threats. We are people who went through hell and came out better, not bitter. In sum, we are proven solutions that should be a welcomed addition to any country.
While incarcerated, Rahsaan Thomas discovered that his voice was still free. He published over 50 stories with organizations like the Boston Globe, Business Insider, Slate and Apogee Journal, through Empowerment Avenue, an organization he co-founded with a Brooklyn-based freelance writer and for which he serves as executive director. He is the founder of the San Quentin Film Festival and the director of “[Friendly Signs],(https://www.rahsaannewyorkthomas.com/presentation),” the 2024 Superfest Advocacy Award winner. He produced and appeared in “What These Walls Won’t Hold,” a San Francisco International Film Festival winner. Rahsaan was paroled after serving 22 years of a 55-to-life sentence thanks to a commutation. He is best known as “New York” on the Pulitzer Prize finalist and Dupont Award-winning podcast “Ear Hustle.” Additionally, Rahsaan is a consulting producer of the Lynn Novick docuseries, “Crime & Punishment.”