Is USA safe to visit?

[perellonuts]

I can’t even believe I’m asking this but is it safe to visit USA now? I’m concerned about the social media issue, I’m pretty sure I’ve liked one or two anti-trump posts each time I’ve doom scrolled since his first term. Could this be used against me? I definitely feel free speech is not tolerated there now. I’d be travelling with my neuro diverse son, age 7. He is perfectly capable with full autonomy and we travel a lot but being separated with no due process would be a disaster and scares the hell out of me. We’ve been invited to go to collect a prestigious award and they put you in a hotel for a few days etc. We have American friends and family and the first hand ICE stories are horrific.

I absolutely agree!

https://www.businesstravelnewseurope.com/Management/CBP-proposes-five-years-of-social-media-identifiers-for-ESTA-requirements

The proposed changes relate to ESTA applications.

Visitor numbers to the US are down. Passenger traffic over the border from Canada to the US is down 20-24% and is hurting American businesses in the border states who rely on Canadians.

If you don't want to go they can probably post it to you

Stay in your town, OP. It will be much safer. Always. Specially if you post memes on social media.

🙄

I'm guessing a lot of people on this thread just stay in their houses. So many crazies out there.

Yes, this, I moan about Starmer on here but I wouldn't bother moaning about other countries leaders, why would you

It’s probably safer now than it was under Biden.

Half a million drug dealers and criminals have been deported, there’s zero tolerance for crime.

We went to Florida in October to visit my husbands family. I felt incredibly safe and actually the border control person was lovely to us…laughing and joking with my 16 year old son. I was absolutely amazed at how friendly the whole experience was in the airport and how generally warm and pleasant it was everywhere else. It’s a huge country with 300 million people and some of the most amazing scenery you’ll find. We’re definitely planning to return, to Boston, this year. Just live your life as normal!

Youll probably be ok if you are White.

I’m American, though no longer live there. It’s safe, mostly, if you’re sensible. It’s not like the UK. I would say it’s on par with South Africa in terms of needing to look over your shoulder and be hyper vigilant.

As an American, I don’t, in theory, have to show any of my social media to enter. But if I did, no way I’d be going (and there’s no way they’d let me in 🤣).

I wouldn’t cancel a planned trip and I’m considering going back next year to visit aged family who won’t be alive forever. But if I was just going on holiday, personally it’s something I’d postpone a few years.

Maybe USA wants access to social media history so that they don’t allow people to enter their country who actively spout racial and anti semitism hatred and call for all sorts of nasty things to innocent people….such as the recent welcomed arrival of that man Starmer was delighted to tell us all about.
At first I thought the social media history sounded bizarre but now I do understand why the authorities would want to have a look. It’s different times we live in now. Saying all that, I’m sure you wouldn’t have a problem.

I read in the last couple of days that the comedian, Dom Jolly has been refused entry to US and he believes it’s because of his anti Dump social media posts. I love the US and have spent many wonderful holidays there but am very anti Dump and have commented as such on sm - it’s very unlikely l would be allowed in whilst the present government are in place - l will wait it out - tango man can’t last forever.

We are a British American family. I’m British. We pay American taxes. Thatcher was another poster. I don’t post memes but I have liked and commented on the situation in America as we are involved and affected. My uk political views are prevalent.

I would say It depends what colour you are. I’m white, I expect I would be fine. But I wouldn’t take my mixed race teenage sons

Exactly what I was going to say. We used to go regularly because my in laws live there but we have stopped now because we can’t hire a car and drive along without being pulled over. We’ve also been locked in a supermarket during an ‘ICE raid’. We were not treated well during that! Now dh goes to see his parents when he is in the US for work because they give him a chauffeured car. (Not like Daddy Warbucks or anything, it’s just cheaper than insurance for a non US citizen for the business) He sees his parents in their house and that’s as much as he wants to do.

Yes, it's perfectly safe to go, unless you're planning to go and agitate/interfere in their politics or commit crimes. Criminal law is now being actually enforced, criminals are actually now required to post bail in order to ensure they will have some 'skin in the game' and so will behave, and illegal immigrant criminals are no longer just released to do whatever the hell they like, despite having a criminal record longer than someone's arm.

Stop listening to the obsessives and just go if you wish to.

We are a British American family. We pay taxes there, we have family and business interests there.

"I would say it’s on par with South Africa in terms of needing to look over your shoulder and be hyper vigilant"

Most of the places tourists visit aren't on a par with South Africa. That's ridiculous. You can look up the areas of Chicago, New Orleans, New York etc that you don't want to accidentally find yourself in. If you were, Mexican, Pakistani/Middle Eastern (or similar) in appearance, then you need to be careful and understand how to react to anything that happens. But for most people, booking your average holiday won't throw up any issues.

Great you had a good experience. I've lost count of how often I've been to the US (probably covered over half the states) over the decades. Who you get at the border has always been a lottery! I've had friendly chats and I've had much less friendly - the point is, it's always been arbitrary and that's nothing to do with Trump per se to be honest. I have a US friend who was born in the Middle East and has an Arabic name. Being pulled aside on a fairly regular basis at the border has been her uncomfortable lot since 9/11. I have personally noticed questioning getting tenser already under the Biden administration. Little touches like a border agent making a point to ask me if I was 'still in the same job and visiting for the same purpose as two months prior' (it was at an airport I hadn't been to in a long time so basically I assume it was to show me that they share records across the US). With this particular administration, the climate around immigration and border control has been heightened and there's genuinely no telling how you're going to be treated. Questioning is always a possibility. Slim chance, but real. Also with regards to ICE, I know people who now always carry a copy of their documentation on them. It's a shift in mindset which is overall much more uncomfortable. As a genuine mere tourist it's unlikely you'd notice. For more regular visitors and people with potentially 'sensitive' jobs (it's no secret this administration has it in for academia), I do think OP is being reasonable to pause and consider what could happen.

Personally I wouldn’t go. I know I’d spend the time feeling stressed about what could happen, so it wouldn’t be worth the worry to me.

Why do people think that if you're white, you won't be targeted?

Sarah Shaw was white (spent three weeks locked up with her six year old) https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/sarah-shaw-opens-up-about-life-after-being-detained-by-us-immigration-with-son-6-remains-heavily-restricted/SKL72LMFSNCABFMTGXQBCRK7MY/

This 5ft American woman on her way to work was white
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article313427795.html

Jasmine Mooney was white

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney

These guards, cops, officials are scum. They don't care. They see a vulnerable woman, they will abuse what power they have over her.

UK Border Police are equally vile but have fewer powers FWIW

The U.S. is a wonderful place. I go regularly. It’s perfectly safe. Don’t let bullshit scaremongering keep you away.

I don't want to answer all those questions, and I don't think I actually know all the answers...

If I couldn't answer all those things, there's definitely no one in my life who could, and I don't want any government knowing more about me than my loved ones! I'd worry as well about all that info being together in one place and being hacked. Can you imagine what a data nightmare that would be?

There's a big conference in the US that work are considering sending us to. They usually send us to a couple of different ones in Europe, which I don't mind, but if they change their plans and want us to visit one in the US, I'm a bit stuffed, really.

It makes it less likely you’ll be targeted, but I agree with you that being white is not a complete protection from this and did OP not say she had an Arabic last name? If so, even worse.

I completely agree. If people feel that bad about a country then just don’t go, there’s no need to make up ridiculous scenarios to cause drama.