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.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_administration_family_separation_policy

People are forcibly separating children from their parents. But only brown ones so no one cares.

The OP is being sensible as while the likelihood is low, the consequences are very bad. People who assess risk consider both. So if you walk on a low wall, the likelihood you will eventually fall / jump off is high, but the chances you will injure yourself as you do is low, so it is a low risk activity. The chance the OP will be detained by ICE is low, but the consequences are very severe, so it would be classified as a medium/ high risk activity

Uk Government advice on travel to the US is here: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/safety-and-security it’s mainly threat of terrorism.

The social media account info is a proposal out for consultation currently, which may form part of the ESTA entry process application to the US in advance of entering the US, for reasons of national security given recent terrorist attacks in the US. So you would know in advance if you have permission to enter the US.

I have been to the US five times and have always found the border entry staff really strict but In my view it’s worth it for entry to the US.

we are going to the US in the summer and very much looking forward to it. I haven’t been for a while. It’s an amazing country to visit, every state is different and there is a huge amount to experience. I have always found Americans to be really welcoming. Obviously it’s an expensive time to visit and flights are not cheap anymore.

I had planned to travel to an event there last year, after being invited pre-election, but for various reasons didn't go (one being my health taking a nose-dive at the time, the other being the politics). I could have taken up the opportunity to go this year instead, but have decided not to purely due to the politics. One of my closest friends lives in the US, as a non-white immigrant (with full citizenship), and she her family have all their documents and a grab bag ready to leave 'just in case'. As you say, wild times.

I visited the states 3x during 2019

No intention of returning with the amount of restrictions and possibly being denied entry - its just not worth it

Yes they will check your social media, you'll find out if they are unhappy if they refuse your ESTA. But yes, anti Trump posts might get you refused entry. That's the point - they are trying to restrict freedom of speech. Up to you if you want to take the risk. Its probably a very low risk if it's only a few posts, and you are clearly going for business reasons. The problem at the moment (amongst many) is that petty bureaucrats now have a lot of power, and we all know how that goes.

They are all us citizens so they don’t know if liking anti-trump social media will get them questioned at the border. They don’t know what it’s like to travel with a neurodiverse child. All my concerns are listed in my first post.

@perellonuts why don’t you travel through Dublin to get there? You do all the immigration and border checks there before you board the flight, and if there’s any problem, you just get turned away in Ireland at the airport so can hop on a flight straight back to UK. No ICE detention centres etc
Its becoming a very popular route for this reason

Lots of people care. Being hysterical and incapable of sensible risk assessment helps noone.

Safer than some places in London LOL

I went to the US six months ago. I'd definitely liked and shared a few memes, one I remember was a joke about Vance tweeting that he was praying for the Pope's good health, and the Pope dying the next day. To be on the safe side I did delete stuff from Facebook, WhatsApp etc. But when going through Border Control I had no issues at all. A few questions, my fingerprints were scanned, passport stamped and that was it. Very straightforward, no issues at all.

And being horrible to people online helps no one either. But here we are.

It’s safe but I’d never travel to America because I have no interest in visiting there.

I travel to the US regularly and have done for over a decade. I also used to live and work in NYC.

The border control guards - particularly in the East Coast cities (JFK airport is the worst) have always been aggressive and unpleasant, from far before Trump's time. It's part of a culture with ICE and as long as you are forewarned and forearmed, you'll be fine. ICE agents absolutely love the power they have to search and question without needing to give you a reason and enjoy waving their little dicks around. You just have to be very quiet, very smiley, very compliant, etc. If you have a valid ESTA, a valid passport, and a return flight, they're realistically not going to be able to do anything and they know it. Being a British citizen also gives you more protection than most.

A lot of what you read in the papers is an exaggerated version of reality. If you were going to have a problem at the border due to social media or other affiliations, your ESTA wouldn't be approved in the first place. All the people in the news who are British and have been detained at US borders have been so for legitimate reasons, i.e. they overstayed their visas or were earning money on a tourist visa. The vast majority of issues happen at the Canadian/US border due to people trying to get around visa requirements or not being aware of visa requirements, and that's not your situation.

I appreciate you have a neurodiverse child but I assume they are aware enough not to start yelling abusive or inflammatory comments as soon as they enter the airport.

Hi can i ask what you mean by this please? We have a trip to new york for 4 nights in December and i also have a child with autism. I’m nervous about going but i don’t know why. I also don’t understand or follow the politics side so i’m a little uneducated on this unfortunately.

I always fly through Dublin. Then when you get there, you can just walk straight out. I love it. I've never had any issues at all.

Other fields would include [...] IP addresses, and broadly expanded information about immediate family members like dates and places of birth, residences and telephone numbers going back ten years.

Yikes! At least there is some measure of control over my own social media. I'd be more worried about IP addresses (can be shared) and family info (I'm estranged or totally different to parents/siblings).

Sounds on par with communist /despot country in the last few years. The paranoia is certainly there.

https://metro.co.uk/2025/12/31/british-comedian-claims-denied-entry-us-trump-social-media-posts-25955235/

If ICE/border control started yelling at my son I couldn’t promise he would be “very nice, smiley or compliant”, if I was separated it could go very wrong. I’ve decided not to go.

Please don't worry. There is a lot of ignorance on this thread.

I cannot imagine why anyone would think taking an autistic child to the US would be a problem.

Having lived in NYC for a long time and as someone who visits at least once a year, I can assure you that you will not have any issues taking an autistic child there, other than them perhaps finding it overstimulating with all the people and noise and so on.

Being in New York is very much the same as being in London. Very international, diverse, multicultural, liberal, etc. It's a fantastic city, and you'll have a fantastic time. There's nothing to worry about at all.

I wouldn't even try. My SM is full of anti Trump sentiment and I was born somewhere he strongly disapproves of ( to British parents - think Forces family - but it's there on my passport).

Don’t book without the Esta - then you know you can go. We went last summer and encountered no issues at all - that was via Denver. Everyone was pleasant and helpful everywhere we went. Anyone not interested in the USA is a bit odd in my view. It has outstanding things to see and do.

We had a few Americans express their great concern to us about how the world now perceived the USA. They said even Trump voters were dismayed. Anyone who goes there should avoid politics and we found this easy. Don’t start a conversation about politics. Enjoy everything the USA offers. Politics won’t affect your holiday and neither are there pictures of Trump everywhere. Didn’t see one. We just found helpful pleasant people.

But they're not just going to randomly start yelling at your son. I'm not sure why you think they would. It's not the Wild West. They do have to be professional.

You're acting as if you are entering the US with a target on your back and are likely to be stopped, searched and separated due to something you're trying to hide from the border agents. If you were planning on smuggling drugs, I'd understand your fear, but, kindly, you are massively overthinking this.

You are going for leisure travel. You would have a return ticket and a hotel. You would have a valid ESTA and a valid passport. It would be the exact same experience as you travelling to any other country - you would be waved through passport control with no issues whatsoever, as you meet all the requirements for entry and raise no suspicions.

You really are worrying over nothing.

Friends who went there recently for a wedding just took a burner phone.