The John Lennon FBI files

"ARREST IF AT ALL POSSIBLE"
Acting FBI Director Gray received an airtel (HQ-24) from the New York FBI office, dated July 27, suggesting that it be "emphasized" to "local Law Enforcement Agencies" in Miami that Lennon should be "arrested if at all possible on possession of narcotics charg." The New York office provided a helpful explanation: "Local INS has very loose case in NY for deporting subject. . . . if LENNON were to be arrested . . . he would become more likely to be immediately deportable." This memo sounds like a proposal to set Lennon up for a drug bust. The ACLU cited this passage as evidence that the FBI was engaged in an "abuse of its authority in order to neutralize dissent."