U.S. immigration authorities are barring entry to 21-year-old Syrian cinematographer Khaled Khateeb who worked on a harrowing film about his nation's civil war, "The White Helmets", that has been nominated for an Academy Award.
 
According to internal Trump administration correspondence seen by The Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security has decided at the last minute to block Khaled Khateeb from traveling to Los Angeles for the Oscars.
 
Khateeb was scheduled to arrive Saturday in Los Angeles on a Turkish Airlines flight departing from Istanbul. But his plans have been upended after U.S. officials reported finding "derogatory information" regarding Khateeb.
 
"The White Helmets," a 40-minute Netflix documentary, has been nominated for Best Documentary Short.