“ARE” you or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” US authorities infamously asked those entering the country during the cold war.

Nowadays the questions may have changed, but the intention is the same — to keep out undesirables.

It seems that I am one of those undesirables — as well as a communist — finding myself banned from transiting through the US on my way to Nicaragua. “Travel unauthorised,” my ESTA application rejection email said. They don’t tell you why.