One of my best friends keeps joking that if he comes to the United States he’s going to be killed. It’s a joke in that he knows he’s not actually going to die. But it’s also a little serious in the sense that he’s worried about coming into the country. He’s Mexican and lives in Germany, and while he’s been to the US dozens of times, he thinks it’s riskier to come now, given President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. He’ll be annoyed if he flies all the way here, gets to US customs, and is told to head right back to Europe. If he were to be detained, the guilt would cause me to melt. So we’ve axed our plans for a stateside get-together this summer and are figuring out a backup plan elsewhere. America is killing our fun, temporarily.
Horror stories about foreigners and tourists getting tangled up at customs when traveling into the US under the Trump administration abound. The headline-grabbing incidents are having a chilling effect on travel from abroad and, in some cases, they’re stressing out native-born Americans, too.
Anxieties about Trump’s border policies are throwing a wrench into travel plans for couples, families, friends, and colleagues with different immigration statuses. Border-related what-ifs are causing travelers to rejigger their plans or cancel them altogether. I spoke with people facing such a conundrum. Many believe things would most likely be fine, since in terms of the law, their ducks are in a row. But the potential consequences of something going awry feel too perilous.
“The vast majority of our clients — even the ones with very secure immigration statuses — are extremely concerned with travel to the extent that it is altering major life plans,” says Katelyn Hufe Karahan, an immigration attorney at Green and Spiegel. She practiced during Trump’s first term, when they learned “anything horrible can happen and nothing’s really surprising,” she says. “It’s unfolded in a way where you can’t count on what’s constitutional. You can’t count on what’s legal. You can’t count on what should happen. You can’t count on what CBP tells you is going to happen. So, it’s tough to nail down.”
The administration says it’s heightening immigration scrutiny in order to quell illegal immigration, tighten the border, and protect Americans. But for some people, the only impact is that it’s complicating their plans and lives.
A decade-old reckless driving conviction is keeping Tori, from California, and her husband from holding their wedding celebration in Mexico this fall. She’s American; he’s a green-card holder from Mexico. He hasn’t had a problem over the charge beyond a quick extra check at immigration, but now, they’re afraid reentry may be different.
Tori, who asked that Business Insider withhold her last name, has been reading news articles, combing through message boards, and reaching out to people in similar situations online. In her search for answers, there’s a flood of confusing, vague information floating around. “We heard about people with green cards and misdemeanors just being detained for two months or even having court dates for deportation,” she says. “He has been talking to his lawyers, but even they’ve been going back and forth.”
At the end of the day, if we went through entry 100 times, would it go well 95% of the time? Probably.
Given the worries, they’ve decided to postpone the event — a potentially pricey conclusion. She and her husband, who were recently legally married, have already paid half of the cost for their wedding, and guests have already booked rooms and hotels. “It’s not worth it,” she says. If her husband were to be detained, their lawyers would probably be able to get him out, but the couple worry that in the meantime, he could lose his job and, in turn, they could lose their house. Luckily, the resort where they’re holding the wedding has been understanding about holding off. They’re now waiting on her husband’s citizenship application.
Anna, from Illinois, has been a “Roman history nerd” for a long time, so she and her fiancé were excited to go to Italy for their honeymoon later this year and maybe swing by some parts of England, where she studied abroad. Her fiancé is from South Korea and has been living in the US as a permanent resident for 20 years, but they feel a trip to Europe would be too risky.
“At the end of the day, if we went through entry 100 times, would it go well 95% of the time? Probably,” she says. But all you need is one customs agent “who has decided that it’s his mission in life to bring about Trump’s America,” she says.
Anna’s frustration with the situation is palpable. Her partner is a lawyer, and she’s getting a master’s degree in finance. They have a solid middle-class income and life.
“We’re quote-unquote doing it right,” she says. “It’s just at the end of the day, none of that really matters for this.”
They’re considering honeymoon options in the US.
Oh no, I can’t take my vacation,” may seem like a privileged problem, but problems are problems, and for many travelers, this is a new one. Some people are scared to leave the country they call home, even if they plan to set down temporary stakes in the US, and not be let back in. Their loved ones are on edge, too.
Green-card holders are generally allowed to leave and reenter the US, and they have a legal right to return unless a judge revokes it. As with US citizens, Customs and Border Protection can ask green-card holders questions, but they can’t require them to unlock their devices or hand over their passwords in searches. CBP has much more discretion to deny entry to people who are living in the country on a visa, such as for studying, tourism, or work. It could be because of a criminal record, because of some social media posts, or because the agent feels something about someone’s story doesn’t add up in terms of their immigration intent. In these cases, they can search devices, detain people, and tell them to turn around.
Even though the laws surrounding immigration haven’t radically changed, scrutiny from border agents has increased. In the US and abroad, there are a growing number of news stories about people being detained or denied reentry for what to many people may seem like inane and unclear reasons. And regardless of a person’s status, Karahan says, border agents are testing the limits for everyone in terms of what they ask and try to access.
“It’s a dicey area, because the agencies are all pushing what’s actually legal and what’s constitutional,” she says.
Gadi Zohar, an immigration lawyer in New York, says he usually tells clients that if they’re in the US on a green card, there probably won’t be an issue, but it’s “tricky” with visas. If a person were to leave the country and the US government enacted a travel ban on their home country in the meantime, Zohar says, they may not be able to return. “So if you’re on a visa, I usually suggest staying in the US if you can,” he says. Particularly if it’s a discretionary trip, like a bachelorette party or honeymoon, he advises erring on the side of caution. A year ago, this wasn’t really something he was telling many of his clients to worry about, because CBP wasn’t as aggressive as it is now. “They’re sort of searching to find things versus if something came up, they would handle it,” he says.
Karahan, similarly, isn’t cautioning green-card holders as much, though if they’re from a country with a travel ban, such as Venezuela or Sierra Leone, she would worry. Her firm is warning everyone to be “mindful” of their social media. (Different lawyers have different stances on some of this — Stephen Yale-Loehr, a retired Cornell law professor, tells me everyone who is a noncitizen should worry about international travel, including green-card holders.)
“Every client is different — for many clients with no known risk factors, we are advising they can travel as usual with certain caveats. For other clients, we are advising against it,” Karahan says.
In an emailed statement to Business Insider, a CBP spokesperson says that a sharp decline in illegal immigration under the Trump administration has allowed law enforcement personnel to “get back to doing law enforcement work, like conducting thorough vetting and interviews.” They say lawful travelers should have nothing to fear from these measures, but if statuses or visa terms are violated, travelers may be subject to detention and removal. “A visa is a privilege, not a right, and only those who respect our laws and follow the proper procedures will be welcomed,” the spokesperson says.
It all seems a little bit hectic and crazy.
Some people on green cards feel that leaving is too big of a risk. José, now in his mid-40s, was born in Mexico but has been in the US since he was 9 years old. He has a felony conviction from nearly 30 years ago, but he’s been in and out of the country plenty since without issue. Now, however, his attorney has advised him not to leave. He’s the only member of his family who isn’t a citizen, so his predicament is causing chaos for everyone’s plans. They’ve canceled a trip to Cancún, Mexico, for his mother’s 72nd birthday and a trip to Jamaica with his youngest child. His lawyer says it’s not worth leaving if it’s not an emergency, “and even if it’s an emergency, reconsider your options,” he says.
It’s not just people already in the US who are adjusting their plans. Charlotte Eaton, a film producer in the UK, was invited to travel to a film festival in Miami earlier this year. It was an exciting opportunity, but then she started thinking about the news stories about tourists traveling to America who had been detained — specifically, one about a 28-year-old woman from Wales who was held for two weeks while traveling between the US and Canada. Ultimately, Eaton decided to forgo the trip. “I was very excited, and yet, in the same moment, I had this immediate gut instinct and said, ‘I’m not going to go,'” she says. “It all seems a little bit hectic and crazy, and it doesn’t make sense to risk that for a three-day film festival.”
Maia Mindel, an economist from Argentina, has a similar reaction, especially after seeing a story in The New Yorker by an Australian man who was deported and compelled to share some, let’s say, extra-private photos in the process. She usually travels to the US once or twice a year. Now, she’s weighing whether to go to a conference she’s been invited to in Washington, DC. “I really have to think about this decision and say, ‘What’s the real risk, and what’s the real problem that could come if I traveled to the US and get in trouble?'” she says. As of now, she’s inclined to stay home.
It’s not great for the US economy or business owners that foreigners are afraid to come to the US. It’s a hit to sectors that depend on foreign visitors, and for companies that need to bring foreigners over, even if for a visit, it mucks up plans. Karahan says her firm has seen sports tournaments facing issues getting the staff needed for events because of changes in attitudes toward visitor visas.
Albert Paz, the owner of Gabriel’s Travel Agency in New Jersey, has been helping his clients change and cancel travel plans in reaction to the political environment. “We deal with a lot of people from Hispanic backgrounds, Arabic backgrounds, so it’s a big issue,” he says. In light of immigration concerns, people are thinking twice about where they go and when they want to travel, and recent conflict with Iran and in the Middle East has prompted even more reconsiderations.
“People have been changing from their European destinations, South American destinations, to more local and Caribbean destinations just to feel more comfortable,” he says. For families in particular, the decision-making can be especially challenging. “Summertime travel is mostly families that are going away, and the first thing on their mind are their children. The last thing anybody wants to do is get stuck in another country, have problems at the airport.”
Vacation is supposed to be fun and relaxing. The point of traveling with others is to connect while disconnecting from the day-to-day. People go abroad to show the world to their kids, to celebrate with their partners, to experience a new adventure with friends. Swapping a flight across the Atlantic for a road trip out West isn’t the end of the world, but it can feel unfair to have your options limited, especially for people who feel like they’ve followed the law and done everything right, or close to it.
The dynamics of group travel are often tricky, and Trump-related immigration concerns add another unpredictable layer. It’s uncomfortable to tell your partner you don’t want to take that Costa Rica vacation you’ve been planning for a year because you’ll spend the whole time worrying about getting home, or telling your parents abroad you won’t be visiting this summer because you’re afraid you’ll be rejected on your student visa to go back to school in the fall. Some people I spoke with expressed a sense of guilt — over wedding guests who had already shelled out for a now delayed event, an older mother missing out on a birthday trip. There was also an air of resignation, a soft disappointment, and a shrug of “maybe next time.”
For US citizens navigating these plans, it’s awkward, too. No one wants to be responsible for upending someone else’s life — or at least costing them a return plane ticket — over a weeklong jaunt. Some Americans are even balking at the idea of leaving the country over concerns about what might happen when they try to come home.
Yes, the thinking goes that it will in all likelihood be without incident, but what if it isn’t? So instead of that Brazilian beach vacation, maybe you decide to finally figure out what’s up with Maine. And hey, the US dollar is weak right now, anyway.
Emily Stewart is a senior correspondent at Business Insider, writing about business and the economy.
Business Insider’s Discourse stories provide perspectives on the day’s most pressing issues, informed by analysis, reporting, and expertise.
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