Is it safe to visit The US?

Yes, I do understand this.

I also understand that we don’t understand the full details of the horror stories.

You must surely understand that not everything has to happen to you or in front of you to make it real though.. There are many first hand accounts (I’ve posted some above) of very scary immigration situations happening since last year.

I had hoped to visit last year or this year from Ireland with my husband and child to visit family in the States. However no way would we go since the immigration issues started under Trump. My child is autistic, so given the negative views also in the Trump administration about autism this also influenced my decision.
My child is 7 and minimally verbal. Their language is mainly repeating what’s said to them or what they’ve heard recently. So my main concern would be that immigration officials wouldn’t understand why my child is not answering questions and would separate us and possibly detain us (together or separately) if my child couldn’t confirm their name or who I was etc. Or Eg if they asked my child ‘are you scared?’ My child could very likely respond ‘scared’ automatically as they often repeat the last word said to them.
I’ve posted some media articles also above that have made me aware of the issues for tourists since last year in USA and there are many more similar stories publicly available. It’s been clear since early to mid 2025 that things had changed drastically and quickly for the worst at US borders for tourists. Then came the anti autism rhetoric.

This must be a windup. You know the plane doesn’t just drop you at Disneyland??? You’re most likely to be shot during a traffic stop, I would imagine. They read your rental car’s plate wrong and suddenly a very militarized US cop is pointing a gun at you. But no, none of my non-white friends have the US on the “to visit” list this year, and my Hispanic friend who grew up in California (so liberal! So safe!) worries every time she passes through the Camp Pendleton border checkpoint that she’ll be shot by some ICE psycho. Also, Starmer has already made it clear that he might risk a little Europe-backed rebellion, but in general, he tries to placate Trump, so the govt won’t be fighting in your corner if you get detained. So no, I would never go to any country that no longer respects the writ of habeas corpus; the US is now one of those countries, openly.

apnews.com/article/border-tourists-german-canadian-detention-immigration-408cd27338e8065268fabc835f8b0c34

Not very aware then, are you?

edition.cnn.com/2025/03/04/world/german-detained-ice-intl-latam

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/21/karen-newton-valid-visa-detained-ice?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I don’t think the issue is necessarily safety in the literal sense of something happening. For me the issue is what is happening over there right now, politically and everything else in-between. I mean we have all seen what’s come out from the Epstein files! Would I personally want to go to a country that is ran by PDfiles? Absolutely not, but each to their own.

But the people are the same as they’ve always been. (As are British people). So what’s stopping you? It’s the leader/regime, isn’t it? Fairly reasonably. Many of us feel the same about Trump. In fact I dislike the Turkish leadership less I think.

What is it that you find great about him? (Genuinely curious)

I don’t want to support any part of the Trump regimen or take my child where gun crime, racism and bigotry are rife so am not going to the US for the foreseeable. Travelled there many times over the years, prefer to go elsewhere now.

It’s safe. I share Trump jokes and complaints with family and friend social media. I am not a US citizen, I go to the US frequently, no one bats an eye.

I don’t agree with the Trump administration on almost anything, but I do wonder if all this stuff is hyped up because I just don’t see any evidence of overreach when I am on the country or passing through immigration.

I’ve read you just get killed straightaway.

… and could even be cheering him on.

Another one of these threads 🙄 Yes, it’s safe. I’m going for my second visit this year in a couple of months.

America is like a tinderbox waiting to explode

I'd still prefer not to have to witness it.

On top of which ATC shortages are causing collisions and the US has picked a pointless and unwinnable fight with a country that would have no qualms about doing what the Libyans did in 1988.

Tourists are not being snatched off the street or shot, and the question is about tourism.

Thanks but this is for visas and not tourist travel on an ESTA, which is what people are mainly talking about. Getting stopped at immigration on an ESTA and being forced to show your social media isn’t happening on arrival in the US.

I was asked about social media for the visa interview I had under the Obama administration, not that anyone actually checked any of it, so this isn’t new, just a little more aggressively worded.

I’m not a Trump fan, I can’t wait til he is gone, but scaremongering does no good. There are lots of reasons not to visit the US at the moment but this really isn’t one of them.

Do you? People are literally being snatched off the streets, shot dead in their cars and the price of everything is skyrocketing. I wouldn't go back either.

Lolz… ahhh and there we have it. Sounds like you think you’re the morally and intellectually superior one. Give that head of yours a wobble. I’m there a few times a year in various States (red and blue) and know how safe I feel.

Obama era would have been equally fine in my mind vs the shit tip we’re now contending with. Joe Bidens USA wouldn’t have been in my list to settle in given the choice but ‘Liking’ the president or PM isn’t the reason to stay or leave a country, it’s the environment ACTUALLY created, not what you read about on both sides of a bias Press. Being the clever one of the two of us, you’ll know that.

I'm white British English, I'll probably be fine.
So I'd feel safe enough.
I'm not an "I'm alright Jack" type though and wouldn't want to visit whilst it's such a shit show at the moment.

Being snatched off the street by ICE and kept in secret detention, Not being able to access Maternity care, citizens being shot on the streets for peacefully protesting, not to mention the chaos that’s going to hit from the country going bankrupt .. I wouldn’t trust that basic services would continue to function, and I certainly wouldn’t give the Trump administration a penny of my tourist dollars.