Work trip to USA

[Wonderbug81]

I'm in a senior role and there's talk of a work trip to US this year. For context I've been to the US multiple times and even lived in NYC for a year a long time ago.

However I'm British Asian and I don't want to go - it's a very different place to the one I lived in.

At the moment it's not a firmed up plan but we'll be going to number of places (not just the more left wing cities) and I want to be ready to discuss it when the time comes.

Dont want to derail on that specific incident so wont engage on it directly.

But the problem is if you are stopped by ICE or other law enforcment you need to allow the detention/arrest to happen.

Authoritarians are attracted to positions of authority such as police and some just cant manage to cope with a questioning "suspect". There are US "Police Auditors" who make a good living by being detained/arrested and $$ settling lawsuits.

The OP would not talk herself out of an arrest and is much safer to allow the officer to do whatever they decide is going to happen.

as the previous poster said although the chances are low (but not as low as they were . . .) if something goes wrong it can go very wrong

there are regular conferences in my industry (mostly populated by middle aged white men) in the USA that are going to be a lot emptier in the coming year. . .

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/09/irish-man-seamus-culleton-ice-detention?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Yet give it an hour or two and there will be someone along to say it's all hysteria and hyperbole.

He's been in the country since 2009. He should have sorted a visa/green card whatever years ago! The judge supported ICE on this.

The bloke is white Irish so it should be of some reassurance to you that they are detaining people without the correct documentation, nothing to do with skin colour.

I've been to the US for work and you never, ever say that you're there for work. You just enter on an ESTA and tick the vacation/pleasure box on the entry form.

Yes, and he overstayed his visa. That's how he got in, and that's probably why he was reluctant to put his head above the parapet for so long and didn't apply for legal status for years. He did things the wrong way round, in the wrong order, and broke the law by overstaying a visa, which has always been taken as a very serious offence in America, not just in today's times. (Although the consequences today are obviously very much worse.)

I think not wanting to go there for a few days for work is an over-reaction, and I'd be seriously unimpressed if I were OP's boss and refused to go. I'm confused as to the grounds on which the OP thinks she could be arrested and put in prison. She's British so would be on an ESTA, and therefore would be in the country completely legally, as long as she doesn't overstay the 90 days, of course. It's foreigners who have committed crimes in the US and/or are in the country illegally who are the targets.

Have you read the article?

Why would it be more reassuring? It says the authorities treat all kinds of foreigners without fair and due process. Couple that with increases in hate crimes and other discrimination against minorities and it's all worse than initially thought.

Yanbu. I wouldn't want to go in your position. Tbh, I wouldn't risk it myself right now, and I'm white. I hope that your employer is supportive and recognises the risk.

But why? Your legal status would be beyond question, as you'd be on an ESTA visa and therefore in the country totally legally. Why would you even be on ICE's radar?? They'd never have heard of you! They're looking for people who they have records of being in the country illegally and/or committing crimes while there illegally. Also, the arrests may be in the news, but I can assure you, ICE is not on every street corner!!!

Yanbu OP. Don’t go.
look at how they treated the Koreans they invited in to teach them essential technology for car manufacturing.
Those poor engineers were treated appallingly and has affected trade between the two countries to the tune of millions of dollars.
I have visited often over the last few years but entry to the USA on our last trip was frightening. The agent dd and I saw threatened to take my phone and go through it, accused me of being evasive, grilled dd (11 year old)to such an extent she nearly cried. I had ALL my documents in order, which seemed to anger him even more. He started twisting my replies and I had to work really hard to keep up.
For context, we are both white and blonde (Irish) and have been before with no issues at all. I genuinely think that had we have been anything else race wise, we would have been escorted to some back office for more of it.
It’s so sad that it has changed because I’ve met some wonderful people there, had great holidays etc but I won’t go back unless there is huge political change.

It's not just about ICE. It's potential hostility from people who live in a country where hate crime has increased and whose President shared an ape video of the Obamas.

I'd be going to the Trump heartland, not California or NYC.

Sorry…London tube and buses not safe any more? What are you on about?
If you’ve fallen for that ‘London has fallen’ rubbish your opinion on safety isn’t going to be worth a lot so I’m hoping you mean something else.

I’ve seen someone else asked and this was your reply. Not buying it. You said ‘any more’ which suggests change. Terrorism has been a risk in cities for ever.

@Wonderbug81 i realise it doesn’t seem much written down, but for example he asked ‘how much cash do you have’ I replied ‘x dollars in cash and I have y dollars in my debit account’. And he replied ‘why are you evading my questions? What did I ask you? What did I ask you?’ And when I explained I wanted to be clear I had more cash available than the paper money, he got irate and accused me of trying to avoid questioning.

He asked for my phone (he is legally allowed to) I offered it out to him and he started up again ‘do you THINK I want to go through your phone?! You know I can! Do you think I want to?’
It was on and on like that, just hatred pouring off him

So just to be clear, they are fully legally allowed to take your phone from you, and go through it to check for any political statement. That includes chats with your families, Facebook posts you’ve liked, reposts etc etc

Have you been hearing what's happening to anyone who's not white? Even US citizens are being pulled over by ICE.

'Why would it be more reassuring? '

Because you've said this "I'll be a brown foreigner travelling to southern states" suggesting you think skin colour is the issue not incorrect documentation.

Have you mentioned zoom or similar to your boss instead?

No. It’s clear from how you put it in that post and your unconvincing ‘explanations’ that it wasn’t subtle or context related at all.

Thank you for posting feedback👍

You keep saying this, and yet you’ve said nothing that explains your ‘point’.

So, have you decided whether or not to go, OP?

It’s not even whether it’s safe (yes), but that @AnSolas Said it wasn’t safe ‘anymore’. Why the ‘anymore?

Safer at the point of arrest. But then getting back out of detention is difficult and doesn’t seem to follow any logic. 5 year old twins have been kept in detention because they (not their caregivers) don't have sufficient assets not to be a flight risk. It’s insane.

… broke the law by overstaying a visa, which has always been taken as a very serious offence in America,

This is incorrect in this case as overstaying is routinely forgiven if the alien marries a US citizen and files the correct paperwork to adjust status. Which this man did. As a result he got a work permit and was in the country legally, pending his interview for his permanent residency.

Yes, he should have addressed his status much sooner, but he is not a criminal and his incarceration is completely unjustified.

Yes, there is potentially a route to "forgiveness" if you marry a US citizen. Unfortunately his past actions will have placed him on a list, and although he eventually did the right thing and filed the paperwork to become legal, I'm guessing that USCIS and ICE weren't exactly communicating with each other. Also, it seems he was in the country for at least 15 years illegally before filing paperwork. He may not have been paying taxes during that time. Maybe that gap/taxes is why he's in jail. He did FAFO with immigration.

Visa overstaying has always been a serious offence. If you do that, you're not usually ever allowed back in, and you have always been vulnerable to arrest and deportation if you're in the US illegally. As you said, you can potentially right that "wrong" by marrying a US citizen, but it's far from ideal, and the overstay remains on your record as a criminal offence even if you become legal. And you might get a permit, but when it comes to getting citizenship later, it will count against you. Most people who marry a US citizen await their visa in their own country, because US immigration has never been something you want to mess around with.

I totally agree that this man's incarceration is wrong. I wasn't debating that, I was saying that OP's situation is totally different from his and she has nothing to worry about as a Brit on an ESTA.