Who is going to the USA, who has changed their travel and what will you do differently?

[DC3]

Another report of travelers detained and deported , this time because of no booked accommodation.

The two were accused of potential illegal work intentions it seems. Also, being denied entry has been around for many years.

Who knows what their story was (or wasn’t?).

 

[AuSammy]

Another report of travelers detained and deported , this time because of no booked accommodation.

Why These Hawaii Travelers Were Jailed And Deported

Two young travelers expected their Hawaii trip to be the highlight of a long awaited world adventure. Instead, their arrival in Honolulu ended in handcuffs, jail, and deportation.

beatofhawaii.com

It's not the fact they were denied entry due to a lack of acceptable paperwork; it's the fact they were stripped, put in prison clothing, jailed, with criminals of various serious crimes, and fed expired food that is totally over the top and unacceptable.

A country crossed off my list until a change of regime; not returning again after 5 previous visits.

 

[dajop]

Another report of travelers detained and deported , this time because of no booked accommodation.

Why These Hawaii Travelers Were Jailed And Deported

Two young travelers expected their Hawaii trip to be the highlight of a long awaited world adventure. Instead, their arrival in Honolulu ended in handcuffs, jail, and deportation.

beatofhawaii.com

Wow I’m shocked. Australia would never ever do this

Come to think of it , all of this drama at immigration would make for a great reality TV show. Something you couldn’t do for Australian immigration because they let everyone arriving at our shores in no questions asked.

 

[Forg]

The two were accused of potential illegal work intentions it seems. Also, being denied entry has been around for many years.

Who knows what their story was (or wasn’t?).

If you were someone considering paying money for tickets going there, safest assumption you make would be that the same could easily happen to you, and go elsewhere instead. When the heads of the organisations in charge of That Stuff are openly saying they don’t care about the illegality of sending random people to South American gulags, you cannot assume your own safety, should one of the failed cops staffing Immigration have a bad day & decide they don’t like you for a random reason.

 

[Human]

If you were someone considering paying money for tickets going there, safest assumption you make would be that the same could easily happen to you, and go elsewhere instead. When the heads of the organisations in charge of That Stuff are openly saying they don’t care about the illegality of sending random people to South American gulags, you cannot assume your own safety, should one of the failed cops staffing Immigration have a bad day & decide they don’t like you for a random reason.

We're all old enough and experienced enough to know how this is going to play out. It's a pendulum. It always has been.

More and more people will have the same attitude as @Forg and change their travel plans. The tourism, aviation and hospitality industries in the USA will be hit really hard. People will lose their jobs.

In response, the Trump administration will be lobbied to ease back. Because the USA is more-or-less a democracy, and those in charge need votes, that easing will happen and things will return to "normal" until the next immigration scandal or (God forbid) act of terror which causes the government to tighten things again.

Over the past week or so we've seen two major -- really major -- Administration backdowns over tariffs. Once Americans start to suffer, there will be a backdown.

Democracy in action.

 

[Forg]

We're all old enough and experienced enough to know how this is going to play out. It's a pendulum. It always has been.

More and more people will have the same attitude as @Forg and change their travel plans. The tourism, aviation and hospitality industries in the USA will be hit really hard. People will lose their jobs.

In response, the Trump administration will be lobbied to ease back. Because the USA is more-or-less a democracy, and those in charge need votes, that easing will happen and things will return to "normal" until the next immigration scandal or (God forbid) act of terror which causes the government to tighten things again.

Over the past week or so we've seen two major -- really major -- Administration backdowns over tariffs. Once Americans start to suffer, there will be a backdown.

Democracy in action.

Whether or not they succeed with their goal of getting rid of that annoying need to garner votes (42% of the way towards dictatorship as of today: Project 2025 Tracker), you do have to wait & see whether that happens before knowing whether it’s the same big risk buying tickets. Wait ‘til that pendulum starts coming back the other way, before putting money down.

 

[Blackadder]

The two were accused of potential illegal work intentions it seems. Also, being denied entry has been around for many years.

Who knows what their story was (or wasn’t?).

So due to no proof they were going to work, they send them off to a immigration deportation centre.
At least here in Australia, they actually require proof before being denied entry.

 

[Human]

At least here in Australia, they actually require proof before being denied entry.

So Immigration officers in Australia are not permitted to deny entry to people unless the Immigration officers have proof that while in Australia the visitors will be doing something illegal?

In other words (and I'm genuinely asking) in Australia, the onus of proof is on Immigration to establish illegal intent?

 

[Forg]

So Immigration officers in Australia are not permitted to deny entry to people unless the Immigration officers have proof that while in Australia the visitors will be doing something illegal?

In other words (and I'm genuinely asking) in Australia, the onus of proof is on Immigration to establish illegal intent?

There’s definitely a Thing about not giving visas to criminals, all those US hippity-hoppity people that commit crimes to become more famous and promote their hippity-hoppity … ahem, “music” … they struggle to get visas.

But that’s long before arriving at the border.

Straya does seem to err on the side of “innocent until proven guilty” than the US does, in general & more particularly right now.

 

[justinbrett]

So due to no proof they were going to work, they send them off to a immigration deportation centre.
At least here in Australia, they actually require proof before being denied entry.

Completely incorrect. Australia works on the same system, the onus is on the traveller to prove they are eligible for their visa. It is not a right.

Omitting things like an initial accomodation booking (after a long haul flight) raises a red flag. You’d want to have your other ducks in a row to avoid any further suspicion.

 

[Phoenix-1]

I can fully understand how a CBP officer is more afraid of letting in the next perpetrator of a terrorist act, than of blocking a tourist for no reason. They shouldn't be blocking tourists for no reason -- but if it's happening, it's not difficult to understand how that could be the case.

Detaining people in prison for weeks doesn't make any sense, even if you buy this "we're afraid of terrorists" argument.

That’s democracy in action. There was a real problem with immigration that both sides accepted, and Trump was pretty clear about what he planned to do to fix it, so nobody should be surprised. Similar policies have made deciding outcomes in Australian elections too.

This has become a politically charged thread and I’ve got no interest in debating politics with other members. I have spent a lot of time in the US, I’ve been to all 50 states, and I think as an Australian tourist you have nothing to fear, but I’m not going to convince the “orange man bad” crowd of that so I won’t try.

Don't bring politics into it and then say you have no interest in debating politics. Just seems cowardly. Ironically, Trump torpedoed a bipartisan immigration deal because he didn't wanted the border to be a mess during the election.

 

[SYD]

Omitting things like an initial accomodation booking (after a long haul flight) raises a red flag. You’d want to have your other ducks in a row to avoid any further suspicion.

Isn’t one of the ESTA questions still where are you staying? God knows what they put in for that and that could have been the Red Flag?

I used to think it was a naff question because you can visit multiple times and stay in different places but I discovered you can update it prior to each visit. Just amend to the place you’ll stay first for each trip.

But it is very stupid to not have somewhere to stay at least for the first night…(arriving anywhere into the US and Canada for that matter).

 

[justinbrett]

Don't bring politics into it and then say you have no interest in debating politics. Just seems cowardly. Ironically, Trump torpedoed a bipartisan immigration deal because he didn't wanted the border to be a mess during the election.

Partisan political comments are forbidden on AFF, so if not wanting to be banned makes me a coward, so be it (although I think calling people cowards is also against the ToS…)

I simply said that this was a political issue on both sides, which you’ve now agreed with. I wasn’t commenting on the merits of one side or the other. If one side gets it wrong democracy will get the other side in power next time.

 

[Phoenix-1]

Partisan political comments are forbidden on AFF, so if not wanting to be banned makes me a coward, so be it (although I think calling people cowards is also against the ToS…)

Just to be clear, referring to one side as the "orange man bad side" is not a partisan political comment?

 

[Forg]

But it is very stupid to not have somewhere to stay at least for the first night…(arriving anywhere into the US (and Canada for that matter).

Not having travelled extensively, I was somewhat stymied by the need to state where I was staying upon entry to the UK in 2012. All the details were buried in a folder I’d shoved in my checked-in bags … immigration could’ve been a lot more lengthy/troublesome if they hadn’t cranked-up the availability of Help Me people due to the Limpix being on, and the very pleasant young English lady Helping (prior to the immigration queues) let me Google the name of the place on her ‘phone.

So not a North America thing only!

 

[justinbrett]

Just to be clear, referring to one side as the "orange man bad side" is not a partisan political comment?

If you have a problem with posts report them to mods. I’m not debating them with you.

 

[Human]

Just to be clear, referring to one side as the "orange man bad side" is not a partisan political comment?

From the "Revised Posting Guidelines" thread :

"Political posts will no longer be permitted anywhere on AFF. These posts will simply be deleted without warning and the poster may be disciplined. I'd rather not get into a discussion on what constitutes a "political" post other than saying that genuinely informative posts related to travel are OK, while provocative posts or those which express an opinion are not. Please just accept our judgement on this matter. Our TOS has been updated accordingly."

The problem is that it's difficult to discuss the topic of this thread, or to respond relevantly, without bringing politics into it, given that one reason that some people are reluctant to travel to the USA is political. So if this thread itself is to be allowed, there needs to be some latitude from the mods (as I think there has been).

For what it's worth, I have found this thread a lot of fun, and part of it has been discussing the various political views. Where it's become less fun is when people have resorted to mocking others (including the US President) and expressing their views condescendingly, intolerantly, ignorantly or arrogantly.

In a perfect world people would at least acknowledge both sides of the argument before stating their position and explaining why. But maybe that's wishful thinking.

 

[JessicaTam]

[mod hat]
Thread closed for review.
[/mod hat]