Are you wary of travelling to USA currently?

I did a one-year postgrad in the US about 20 years ago. The university arranged for me to have a student visa. All was fine and I enjoyed my stay. But when I left at the end of the course, I forgot to have the visa 'cancelled' or whatever they do to signify that someone has actually left the course.
I've been back three or four times since then and every time I am hauled out of the line and taken to an uncomfortable bare-looking room called Homeland Security, usually with a great mixture of people - some of whom do look dodgy, some in handcuffs - and a whole lot of security staff, usually chewing gum and always with guns. I have to go through the same explanation each time, there seems to be no recording that would ease my passage the next time. Luckily I was a middle-aged (now old), slightly dreamy-looking woman and I got by each time, usually by going into dtizy-old woman chattering mode, emphasising my Yorkshire accent, until the officer gave up in exasperation.
But I will not be going back until this regime changes. I had a friend who would have been sent straight back to the UKfrom the airport because he had arranged his return flight for 91 days after the arrival day (the limit is 90 days, he had got time zones mixed up), except that there and then he booked another flight for the day earlier. Another friend went as a volunteer at a charity and told them that. She was actually sent back because she might have been working and taking a job from a US citizen!
Travel as a tourist, have a flight back arranged and get someone to check that you haven't forgotten anything. So much depends on the mood of the person wielding the rubber stamp at the airport...

Yeah, I'm still not taking the risk of being detained indefinitely without trial. I'll stick to spending my money in countries that aren't threatening to annex their neighbours.

@DdraigGoch @Breezeblock

Not that I have a lot of faith. Just that I'm not buying into the faux hysteria and media agenda being pushed.
My political standing doesn't cloud or stop me deep diving into topics.... especially being bored and trying to fill my time whilst going through the long torture that is legal US immigration myself.

Like anything governmental, it's full of red tape and paperwork. Ice aren't just rounding up random migrants etc.

Deportations and removals proceedings take a long time and involve multiple court hearings in front of an immigration judge before a deportation can take place.
Even after a first notice to appear and hearing, an undocumented migrant can still remain in the US and legally adjust status... usually through marriage to a US citizen and concurrently filing an I-130 and I-845. Again once those are filed, the undocumented migrant is protected until a decision is made (current I-130 processing times are on average 16.5 months). As of today the main USCIS focus are I-130s filed in Nov 2023. A lot of approvals from around 22 and 23 Nov.
Worth noting that being undocumented, visa overstay, unauthorised work are all "forgiven" after marriage to a US citizen.

The TPS that Trump has paused isn't the only pathway for undocumented migrants to remain. DACA is another pathway to claim asylum, and again, like above, once that paperwork is in and a receipt number provided then the migrant is protected until such time a decision is made.

Short turnaround times (such as a few weeks) are possible in extreme circumstances and when warranted. This is usually saved for those with a criminal history and who either pose a risk to the public or to national security.

On average the whole deportation/removals process can take up to 3 years.
So a large number of the undocumented migrants who have been deported since Trump has been in office have already been the the pipeline for a substantial amount of time where a large portion of the removals process will have taken place during Biden's tenure.

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/ice-arrests-deportations-interior

https://emplawfirm.com/deportation-process-timeline/#:~:text=The%20exact%20length%20of%20the,to%20three%20years%20to%20complete.

Agreed. Or applying it in good faith. Or having available judges to hear cases in good time. Or not just deciding to ‘revoke’ green cards. Or putting you in detention centers far from where you were originally detained and not updating records allowing loved ones to locate you.

I am an immigrant to the UK
despite having all the right paperwork I was once locked up by UK customs for several hours
It was deeply scary
and I can still remember every moment 40 + years later

OF COURSE
immigration officials can break the law

only idiots think they cannot
ANYWHERE

You seem to have a lot of faith in ICE following the law at a time when the legal system cannot keep up with the chaos.

I wouldn't believe those unverified reports that seem to come from tiktok or social media.

Green Card Holders/LPRs cannot just be detained and leave voluntarily.

The only way LPRs can get themselves into issues is by a) not carrying your green card on you at all times (legal requirement), b) allowing your green card to expire without applying for a new one/not applying for removal of conditions (if on a CR), c) Violating thw terms of your green card (think criminal activity etc) and d) Being refused a green card renewal due to inadmissibility.

There are a lot of reports that seem to gloss over a number of issues that have caused some instances.
I know I've seen the media class undocumented as "prospective LPRs". If a case is in, eg undocumented adjusting status using the I-485 application, then as long as they have the first NOA (receipt notice) then they are protected from ICE until USCIS make a decision on the case.
This gets a bit tricky if an undocumented migrant has already received a "notice to appear" letter, but still through an immigration lawyer can be protected.
Another example I've read frequently is those using the I-485 but leaving the country without a decision and without the I-131 advanced parole... essentially nullifying their original case.

A lot of people are so clouded in their dislike of Trump.
Statistically removals under Trump so far have been at a lower quantity and slower rate then what they were under Biden in 2024.

A lot of the current cases will have had about 6-12 months and a good chunk above that of background research, case building and intel gathering before these raids take place... so a lot of the foundation works will have been done whilst Biden was in charge.

I follow a lot of the scanner pages for the city nearby where I will be moving too. There were a number of raids where residents comments were like "this is Trump" only for it to be announced that it was part of an 18 month cross-agency operation into money laundering and human trafficking.

$30k already spent and not recoverable through insurance for a change of mind, that's why. We booked amazing deals mid last year. Flights, hotels, trains, tours etc. We simply can't afford to lose the money because 'we don't feel like going'.

And because the families we'll be staying with (not the battleground ones) are amazing. If I truly thought we'd be in actual danger we wouldn't be going. As it is I think the kids will be mostly oblivious, and the adults will be responsible for steering conversations away from the current shitshow. Grey rocking the political environment while enjoying pretty buildings and mountains, basically.

Why do you have to go though? Can’t you just not get on the plane and have a nice Easter at home? Putting your kids in with a bunch of MAGA people in this climate (which might be hotter by the time Easter rolls around) is going to be horrible for them. They won’t forget that trip in a hurry, why put them through it?

My cousin has long been planning a retirement celebration trip to Florida but just told me she won't be going.

1. she is too scared to fly and
2. doesn't want to support Trump in any way.

Anecdata!

Hopefully she’ll be home on the 11th then.

And you are, of course, free to spend your money wherever you want, or not!

But she did have a plane ticket home. Her mother had booked one for March 11th.

I've got Canadian family and friends so I'm boycotting American goods and services anyway, they're not getting my hard-earned cash.

I don’t know why she is still there. From the article posted above it seems there might have been an issue with her getting a ticket to fly home. My point was only ever that ICE aren’t just randomly picking up tourists and imprisoning them. This woman was trying to cross the border and she was refused entry because they thought she was going to he an over stayer. The situation wasn’t as a pp first described.

The thing is that she hasn’t been kicked out. That's the point. She hasn't been bounced back to Tijuana or put on a flight to Germany. She's been held in detention for a month, including eight days in solitary confinement.

This. We're booked in April, to visit family and teach kids more about their heritage. Booked prior to the election, knowing Trump might be in, but didn't think it'd be this insane. WTF do we teach them now?

Also nervous about flights and about family dynamics. DHs parents, republican to the bone, find it bad enough when they're visiting. The family has become a battleground, and we have some Canadians and queer family in there to boot who are just devastated. I really wish we weren't going. Too late now though.

They don’t need to prove anything, unfortunately. If they suspect you want to try and live illegally in the US, you’ll be kicked out.

Slight difference there. One can take a hairdryer on holiday quite legitimately- they’re an everyday item. A tattoo gun? Not so much.

Due to DOGE firings, there are fewer national park rangers and staff at aviation control. It's early days to exactly know the impact of the firings. There will be price hike and it was expensive to visit USA before but it will be even more expensive now.
To think that one in two of any American you meet, voted for the current administration- not sure how I will deal with that!
We have a trip planned to a red state and am rethinking of our plans.
If you cannot change your travel plan, then at least you can do some research and avoid MAGA owned businesses while you are holidaying in USA.

LGB is different to TQIA+. They (the Trump administration) don’t want to give gay people special treatment but recognize their existence, like everyone else. I would still go.

Being in possession of the equipment doesn't prove that she was going to use it to work while she was there. Eight days in solitary confinement is utterly cruel, bearing in mind that she's not been charged with (let alone convicted of) any crime.

ICE certainly do not mess around, they've got quotas to fill. There have been documented instances of them detaining Green Card holders to pressure them into leaving voluntarily, even though they've got the right to live and work in the US. It's the sort of stuff you'd expect of Russia. Mind you, Putin is very much idolised by the POTUS...

I honestly don't know if it'd even be safe to try and cross into the US if you've posted support of the boycotts online.

Canadian here... we definitely are not travelling to the States in the near future. We are doing our best to buy Canadian food and products.

I'm retiring this year, and hoped to visit the Grand Canyon and Arizona area, but won't do it now.

All the MAGA yahoos are feeling empowered and lord knows what could happen. I don't think I could withhold my contempt for their ideology if somehow engaged in a conversation.

I don’t think it’s naive at all. Presumably a hairdresser couldn’t take scissors or a dryer as far as you’re concerned.

It’s incredibly naive to think you can enter the US with equipment used to make a living and have them believe you’ll just use it to do freebie tattoos on your mates. No idea why she’s still in the US but to use this as a reason why a legitimate tourist shouldn’t visit the States is ridiculous. This person made a big mistake and is unfortunately paying for it.