US border control

I am seeing lots of stories on social media about the Trump administration having a crackdown on visitors - things like refusing entry if they had criticised the administration online. I had been taking this with a pinch of salt, thinking it may be simply propaganda by the opposing side. Then I've just seen this article in the Wall Street Journal, and I'm tempted to think if reputable newspapers are saying it then it's becoming a problem.

Anyone know more?

Here's the article:
"Immigration officers are employing more aggressive questioning tactics with immigrants and tourists trying to enter the country, scrutinizing their visas and more frequently detaining them in a sharp break from past practice, lawyers and former immigration officials said.
In a string of recent cases, border authorities have detained U.S. tourist and work visa holders for lengthy periods after seemingly minor issues with their cases.
“I’m shocked at how fast this all changed,” said Lucas Sielaff, a 25-year-old plumber from Germany. He was driving to the U.S. from Mexico with his fiancée, a U.S. citizen, when immigration officers put him in shackles at a border checkpoint. “And that they put innocent people in prison for nothing.”
Officials are also now requiring most immigration applicants to submit their social-media handles with applications, and have been increasing searches of people’s cellphone contents at airports." more

[ Edit: Edited on 27 Mar 2025, 07:54 GMT by AndyF ]

Frankly, I'm not surprised.

The Esta application has asked for social media info for several years (at least my past 3 applications, I think) and I assume the visa application does too, so that's not new. What may be new is Esta/visa officers (maybe AI?) actually looking at more people's social media content and flagging it up to border officers.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the Esta option is eventually suspended, especially if the current presidency or similar continues after the next US election.

Power hungry little control freaks exist everywhere, so they'll also be found among immigration officials. Given the attitude of the current US government, it's no surprise that they're trying to (ab)use their power to the fullest extent, using any excuse they deem politically palatable.

Several European countries are warning their citizens about this (Germany and the Netherlands for certain, several others that I don't recall offhand, with more planning to do the same). It's been reported in in reputable Dutch media as much as a week ago already as well (before that warning was issued). The 'average' (straight, white, etc) European citizen probably won't notice anything amiss, and probably the same for most people falling outside those demographics, just because the number of visitors is huge, and most immigration officials aren't like that - but yes, there absolutely is a problem, and the risk is significant enough that I don't blame the huge number of people now cancelling and rethinking their travel plans.

[ Edit: Edited on 27 Mar 2025, 09:45 GMT by Sander ]

Thanks guys. How depressing.

Trump has refused to allow a news organization access to press conferences because they will not call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. He has fired attorneys in the Department of Justice who participated in the lawsuits against him even though that is illegal to do since they are federal employees and not political appointees. He is talking about saying that just being born in the USA doesn't make you a citizen and he is also talking about making people prove their citizenship to vote.

Someone here said that they didn't think border entry would change that much when Trump was elected - they were wrong

Thanks guys. How depressing.

Definitely. Try and live here and maintain some sanity these days if you're on the 'wrong' side. Seriously, I'm sort of a wreck and afraid every day what fresh hell we'll be waking up to.

Not going to stand for misinformation being posted on here. Removed the posts that were frankly just blatantly false.

I also don't think it's unreasonable to discuss the disaster unfolding for US tourism here, so the thread will stay.

Thank you, Peter.