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

[nancypants]

(Also probably worth noting I’m not the best yardstick for this- my last visit to US territory before the current one was American Samoa in December 2016 ie just after Trump won the first time. Prior to that I did a transit in 2014 and longer visits in 2011 and 2013 ish. From around 1991 to 2001 we would visit annually as a family)

 

[RSD]

Ambulance chaser?

LOL! No! Have spent time in the Bronx, Chicago, L.A. and Texas.

 

[GUWonder]

I am an American, so I sort of have no choice but to go back upon leaving. Travel by non-US persons to the US has of course been dropping significantly more so this year than usual, but US-origin travelers have been filling up the seats anyway to and from the US. At least so far.

I recently landed a way to get from the US to Australia for 15k miles each way in economy class, and I'm tempted to take a lot of advantage of it this year.

 

[Tiki]

Yes, it is illogical that Australians go on a shopping binge in the USA, but they do, and love it.

My last trip was Halloween 2024 and I did my fair share of shopping even with the bad exchange rate. Nice Samsonite luggage and a good variety of plus sized clothes at Ross Dress for Less all very cheap on the clearance racks. I bought heaps of US food that is hard to find in Australia and unless you grew up in the US you wouldn't miss it. There used to be a great shoe store that had 10w sized shoes - Payless Shoe Source but they shut down around the Covid time I think. There is also a discount Macy's, I think it's called Backstage at several malls including Grapevine near DFW which is a good place to spend a layover. But most of the clothes are probably made in China and won't be such good bargains anymore and these days there is always Temu with a wide variety of plus sized clothes at bargain prices so I don't miss my shopping trips so much anymore. I stocked up on everything that I would possibly want last year because I didn't think I would want to go back for the next 4 years.

He is unpredictable which makes me nervous and when he acts (like tariffs) it's felt all over the world. No one knows what he will do next.

 

[GUWonder]

I vividly remember standing here in January:

View attachment 439884

Americans haven't forgotten that that crime against humanity was committed by foreign nationals who had been welcomed into the USA with open arms.

Since then, I think the USA has struggled to get the balance right between caution and openness. Arguably, the pendulum swung too far between 2021-2025 (remember that one of the top reasons voters gave for rejecting the Democrats and electing Trump was uncontrolled immigration), and arguably it's swinging too far in the other direction now.

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.

We have no idea what it's like to fear a terrorist act on home soil.

Hopefully the pendulum will swing back to the centre soon... whatever that looks like.

I lived within walking/jogging/biking distance of the White House and Pentagon and in Manhattan on 9/11. I was at the WTC in the days before 9/11. I was on a United flight on 9/11. When I flew back to the US as soon as the airspace opened up again, the WTC site in NYC was still smoldering and I would see it smoldering when flying back and forth between NYC and DC (DCA was still closed for a few more weeks so I ended up at BWI and IAD more than was to my liking). So I know full well what it was like in NYC and DC in the days around 9/11 and ever since.

But CBP's predecessor was just as bad at the beginning of September 2001 as it was after 9/11. CBP is as bad as ever, and it has nothing to do with terrorism; and it has nothing to do with irregular migrant entries to the US between 2021-2025.

 

[Aggi]

My recent ESTA application didn’t seem that different to those in the past. A couple of minor changes, but nothing that I would call stressful.

Has your ESTA approval come through overnight?

Yes it has, thank goodness

 

[VPS]

Another story

Detained Welsh tourist tells experience in US border

Becky Burke spent 19 days in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing centre.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[nancypants]

Another story

Detained Welsh tourist tells experience in US border

Becky Burke spent 19 days in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing centre.

www.bbc.co.uk

Ok I have questions specifically around her denial of entry into Canada which is glossed over in this article

 

[Aussie_flyer]

I don't think this is a relevant story about this girl. Sounds like she was working frankly and you can't just stay in the USA for as long your ESTA is valid anyway like she seemed to think ?

 

[SYD]

Ok I have questions specifically around her denial of entry into Canada which is glossed over in this article

Denied entry to Canada because she violated her US ESTA and was locked up ie couldn’t sneak across the border unnoticed….

Although, I can’t imagine how she came a cropper because she should have been able to leave the US without seeing US officials….?

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Denied entry to Canada because she violated her US ESTA and was locked up ie couldn’t sneak across the border unnoticed….

Although, I can’t imagine how she came a cropper because she should have been able to leave the US without seeing US officials….?

Probably left and was denied entry and turned back to the USA

 

[nancypants]

Denied entry to Canada because she violated her US ESTA and was locked up ie couldn’t sneak across the border unnoticed….

Although, I can’t imagine how she came a cropper because she should have been able to leave the US without seeing US officials….?

Seems there’s some debate about whether chores for lodging truly violates the “no work” condition but I suppose it’s het another thing to be cautious about. I did read some things about people for example giving talks at conferences in exchange for airfare and expenses being technically in breach so I suppose it’s not a million miles away from it and also means a lot of people are going to need to apply for visas going forward. I was going to do some volunteer work while here but probably too risky

 

[RooFlyer]

Denied entry to Canada because she violated her US ESTA and was locked up ie couldn’t sneak across the border unnoticed….

Although, I can’t imagine how she came a cropper because she should have been able to leave the US without seeing US officials….?

Ha ha. When I was going to uni in Ontario Canada near the USA border I was driven across into the USA to go to a big party. The Canadians then could enter the USA by just saying ‘we are Canadians’ while staying in the car (!) but I had to have my passport stamped etc. In those days you got the little green ticket in your passport on entry and when you exited they took it back.

Well, needless to say I got a little Brahms and Liszt at the party and I have no memory of the drive back but I was told later that they just declared me as a Canadian on the way back into Canada and drive through.

Coming to, I realised I was “asymmetrical “ - I was still in the USA as far as both countries were concerned.

Major panic as I was on a student Visa and being paid to study a Masters by my employer. An immigration violation would probably see me thrown out and end of employment too.

As it happens, absolutely nothing happened when I entered the United States the next time and reentered Canada

 

[SYD]

Ha ha. When I was going to uni in Ontario Canada near the USA border I was driven across into the USA to go to a big party. The Canadians then could enter the USA by just saying ‘we are Canadians’ while staying in the car (!) but I had to have my passport stamped etc. In those days you got the little green ticket in your passport on entry and when you exited they took it back.

Well, needless to say I got a little Brahms and Liszt at the party and I have no memory of the drive back but I was told later that they just declared me as a Canadian on the way back into Canada and drive through.

Coming to, I realised I was “asymmetrical “ - I was still in the USA as far as both countries were concerned.

Major panic as I was on a student Visa and being paid to study a Masters by my employer. An immigration violation would probably see me thrown out and end of employment too.

As it happens, absolutely nothing happened when I entered the United States the next time

Those green I-94 stubs were often not taken. I was travelling with a work colleague who had a leftover one still in his passport. The official was giving him the 3rd degree about overstaying but fortunately he could point to a stamp into Fiji in between. If he’d just tossed the stub, they’d been none the wiser because the airline would have reported his departure on the prior work trip (and this was ~20 yrs ago).

 

[TheRealTMA]

Ha ha. When I was going to uni in Ontario Canada near the USA border I was driven across into the USA to go to a big party. The Canadians then could enter the USA by just saying ‘we are Canadians’ while staying in the car (!) but I had to have my passport stamped etc. In those days you got the little green ticket in your passport on entry and when you exited they took it back.

Well, needless to say I got a little Brahms and Liszt at the party and I have no memory of the drive back but I was told later that they just declared me as a Canadian on the way back into Canada and drive through.

Coming to, I realised I was “asymmetrical “ - I was still in the USA as far as both countries were concerned.

Major panic as I was on a student Visa and being paid to study a Masters by my employer. An immigration violation would probably see me thrown out and end of employment too.

As it happens, absolutely nothing happened when I entered the United States the next time and reentered Canada

Times have changed.

 

[DC3]

Seems there’s some debate about whether chores for lodging truly violates the “no work” condition but I suppose it’s het another thing to be cautious about. I did read some things about people for example giving talks at conferences in exchange for airfare and expenses being technically in breach so I suppose it’s not a million miles away from it and also means a lot of people are going to need to apply for visas going forward. I was going to do some volunteer work while here but probably too risky

Yes, no work whatsoever! Or, have the correct entry visa/ document if working.

 

[DC3]

Another story

Detained Welsh tourist tells experience in US border

Becky Burke spent 19 days in a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing centre.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[ayebee]

According to the AGE / SMH, republishing a NY Times article, the Trump administration has replaced / redirected the US government’s main portal for information about COVID-19 with a website arguing that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab.

 

[RooFlyer]

The definition of ‘work’ can be curious. Again I’m going to talk about Canada not the USA but may be instructive. I used to commute to Canada very often for a couple of years staying for about a month at a time helping run a mineral site in British Columbia. I was certainly ‘working’ there, engaging with the local workforce, directing operations etc.

I used to get regularly bailed up by Canadian immigration when I arrived & taken to a back room and quizzed that I was working wasn’t I (as opposed to being there on ‘business’)?

Their definition of ‘work’ was essentially that you were taking the job that a Canadian could do. Didn’t matter so much of whether I was being paid in Canada or Australia, as I was.

And that was my get out of jail or at least deportation card. Because we were an ASX company and I had certain qualifications relating to reporting to the ASX I could show that no Canadian could do my job. Hence, I wasn’t working according to the Canadian statute.

 

[Blackadder]

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