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Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March
- pixl97 2y agoAct crazy and people stop coming to your house.
- theothertimcook 2y agoFor a lot of people a certain level of crazy was the thing that made the US interesting. I make an effort to avoid and me mindful/critical or news/culture war stuff but at the same time. I’ve got this instinctive vibe that now is not the best time to be visiting the US.
- Ar-Curunir 2y agoInstinctive vibe, as opposed to, you know, facts that can be checked at a moments notice?
- johannes1234321 2y agoCrazy can be interesting. But risk of crazily being arrested and being put in a crazy American jail ... well, makes more people hesitant. And then add all the other rethoric and actions, which don't make the contemporary U.S. the place it was once idealized to be.
- bilbo0s 2y agoI'll just come out and say it, "crazy" is "interesting" only when the "crazy" is happening to other people. If the "crazy" is gonna happen to you, yeah, that's an entirely different story.
- johannes1234321 2y agoAbsolutely true, but "crazy" is a lot broader. Looking at the crazy New York city, with the crazy architecture and such or going othe replaces and seeing the crazy car centric structures, but also the crazy neighborhood between rich and poor or just the crazy landscape around Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls. The positive crazy compared to negative crazy sums up less and less to a positive value, though.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- oldpersonintx 2y ago[dead]
- paulddraper 2y ago[flagged]
- loloquwowndueo 2y agoYes but then you hang a “no guests” sign outside. You don’t let them in your house and then scream at them, lock them up in the bathroom for 2 weeks before kicking them out.
- freeamz 2y agoyeah locking up for 2 weeks just doesn't make any economic sense, it must cost the tax payer a fortune vs just deport them?
- frob 2y agoThe public cruelty is the point. Make people suffer horrendously outsized consequences for the most minor of innocent infractions and it quickly sends a message that you're not welcome here.
- bell-cot 2y agoThat is perfectly reasonable, when it is literally your house. But within the metaphor - elected leaders need to balance the short-term approval of voters who are angry/xenophobic, against the longer-term disapproval of voters who don't like losing "their" cuts of withering travel/tourism-related revenues ...and can figure out who is mostly to blame for that.
- pjc50 2y agoThis is more like the sad case of someone who got out of their car and knocked on a door to ask directions, in Texas, who was murdered by the occupier who was paranoid and armed.
- neogodless 2y agoThis is more like hosting an AirBnB but then sometimes you lock your guests up in the basement and torture them. So you get some bad reviews on AirBnB. If that's what you're going for.
- input_sh 2y agoAPIS I-92 data is a way better source. Includes all the airports, not just top 8: https://www.trade.gov/us-international-air-travel-statistics-i-92-data https://www.trade.gov/us-international-air-travel-statistics... The latest month available is still February though.
- qoez 2y agoThe US used to be the coolest place I'd do anything to visit growing up. In the last decade or so it's become way more unattractive and not worth the effort compared to alternatives.
- amelius 2y ago> The US used to be the coolest place I'd do anything to visit growing up. Huh, city centers in Europe are way nicer than anything I've seen in the US. But maybe you're more interested in other things.
- qoez 2y agoI mean it's just me falling for hollywood seduction. The past ten years of media has been awful though and has convinced me of the opposite.
- lukas099 2y agoEurope definitely has nicer cities. IMO the main reason to visit the U.S. is its National Parks. NYC is cool too for the diversity of cultures.
- daedrdev 2y agoAfter several tourists were detained for weeks in terrible conditions, it’s little wonder why
- mjaniczek 2y agoI'm an EU citizen who's on the organizer team of Elm Camp 2025, and I'm really on the fence whether to even risk the flight to US and attending, hearing these stories :(
- akie 2y agoDon't go. Easy. You'll be at the mercy of individual ICE agents. Read this if you're wondering if it's the right decision, because this could be you: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-det...
- ta1243 2y agoWhat visa do you hold? I wouldn't be confident that organising a conference would fall under ESTA or B1, speaking at one should be, but ultimately it's upto the goon looking at your application at the desk. In any case ensure you immigrate as early in the day as possible to maximise the chance of a quick deportation if you are rejected.
- jillyboel 2y ago[flagged]
- drstewart 2y ago[flagged]
- frob 2y agoDo not come here. First, do it for your own safety. A wrong form or the wrong answer to a verbal question after 18 hours of travel could land you in weeks of brutal detention. Second, do it to help the cause. We here in America need to suffer the consequences of our actions. We need to see conferences canceled. We need to see imports stopped. We need to see people refusing to bring their knowledge and expertise here. It is going to be a long, dark four years for the globe. It's going to take all of us working from within and without to have any hope of dismantling this evil empire.
- willvarfar 2y ago> And I rolled it over 30 days to be able to show any recent changes while not getting lost in the noise of daily change. small thing, but learned at work that often there's a weekly pattern (and I'd bet there is for airplane travel) so you ought use a rolling 7 day average instead of 30 because there are different numbers of weekends in each day's 30 day number. This is why there's a slight zigzag in the line charts in the article.
- ttoinou 2y agoOr use 28 days ? If we need to average both weekly and monthly trends
- dkdcwashere 2y agoyep typically rolling 28 days is used for “monthly” metrics for this reason
- makoto12 2y agoI've been following work metrics quite closely this year that has this problem. I don't know why I didn't think of this!
- rich_sasha 2y agoOr just seasonally adjust your time series. Just sayin.
- shalmanese 2y agoOne fun one is that in a lot of year on year change reporting for China specifically, Jan-Feb is considered a single month and then all the other 10 months are seperate. Reason is: [spoiler] * * * * * The dates of Chinese New Year move around across the year and they have such a big effect on the stats that it's easier just to lump the two months together. [/spoiler]
- comment7890 2y agothe people who've stopped coming are the ones you want coming too
- Apreche 2y agoFinally the Republicans have done something good to help fight climate change. Less flights, less jet fuel exhaust.
- closewith 2y agoPeople are still travelling, just not to the newest oligarchy.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- stevage 2y agoI like the thought process but seriously people will just travel to other places.
- bondarchuk 2y agoNot necessarily the same distance. For example if you consider academia, the center of gravity of "serious" "western world" universities that can reasonably be visited has shifted considerably towards Europe now.
- moolcool 2y agoCanadian airlines are cutting routes to the US due to low demand, but adding new routes to places like Europe and Mexico.
- Workaccount2 2y agoI'm waiting for conservatives to buy Teslas as an "FU" to liberals.
- throwawaymaths 2y agoSo, less greenhouse gases?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- mathw 2y agoPeople might choose to fly somewhere else instead though, so it doesn't necessarily reduce the overall amount of carbon emissions from air travel. Especially if you see Europeans deciding to go somewhere else in the Americas instead, which I've heard some of my friends considering. Although if Europeans choose to travel within Europe instead then yes we'd see a reduction as the distances are rather shorter (and with any luck some of them would go by rail)
- johanvts 2y agoTrump thought of that so now he is also singlehandedly starting a global depression to ensure nobody will be traveling at all. Truly he has done more for the climate than Gretha.
- internet_points 2y agoOTOH oil prices are down (due to less demand while incf OPEC production), so people will be burning oil on other things
- brianmcc 2y agoOr more, if Canadians travel to Europe instead of the US
- arccy 2y agountil the airlines reduce flights, the planes still fly, just emptier
- throwawaymaths 2y ago
- Havoc 2y agoMight be worth telling the tourist harassment department at the border to not behave like the gestapo?
- tempfile 2y agoWhy would they do that? The system is behaving exactly as intended.
- wigster 2y agorussians will make up the shortfall comrade
- aiisahik 2y agoAmericans do not understand how much press there is outside the US about tourists from Ireland / Germany / Canada getting locked up in ICE jails for weeks on end. It's one thing to refuse entry to someone who doesn't have the right documents. The fear goes to a completely different level once people see tourists getting locked up. As someone who lived in the US for 22 years legally and most of my social and business network there, I an not taking the risk of getting locked up in ICE jail any time soon, no matter how unlikely it is.
- world2vec 2y agoExactly this. If someone from "high tier" countries like Canada and Germany can get locked up in ICE jails for several weeks imagine someone like me from a peripheral European country. Even worse, my youngest brother that has a more "tanned" appearance. tattoos, and a beard. I won't be visiting the US for the foreseeable future (used to go several times per year for work), just not worth the risk.
- chimeracoder 2y ago> Exactly this. If someone from "high tier" countries like Canada and Germany can get locked up in ICE jails for several weeks imagine someone like me from a peripheral European country. Even worse, my youngest brother that has a more "tanned" appearance. tattoos, and a beard. Out of curiosity, what do you think it's like to travel to Europe as someone who is dark-skinned, has a beard, and does not have a European passport?
- DarkWiiPlayer 2y agoI would hope it doesn't include getting locked up despite having a valid visa and proof of a return flight for several weeks.
- sofixa 2y ago> Out of curiosity, what do you think it's like to travel to Europe as someone who is dark-skinned, has a beard, and does not have a European passport? Depends on which part of Europe. In the more diverse parts, nobody would bat an eyelid (even if border police might profile you). EU Eastern Europe, you might get funny looks but it's still not an extraordinary situation to have various shades of skin colour (e.g. Syrians, various Central Asians are migrant workers in a few of the countries in question; a lot of e.g. the Balkans are on a palette of skin colours). Non-EU Eastern Europe (referring more to Belarus than Montenegro here), might get casual racism. Nobody will throw you in jail in indefinite detention in another country with no human rights because of your skin colour, beard, tattoos or anything of the like. Other than of course the usual suspects of Belarus, Russia, Azerbaijan and etc. who could for any reason.
- Taniwha 2y agoRemember that many (most?) people coming from Canada go thru US immigration there, so these numbers (from US airports) likely represent non-Canadian visitors. With so many fewer people coming the ratio of fliers to immigration people is going to be lower, chance of getting hassled is going to be that much higher. Personally I'm unlikely to return while these stories of bad things happening to people at the border continue (this isn't a new thing, in particular because the US has no exit processing infrastructure - people get tagged as overstaying even though they've left, get popped into detention when they return - always keep your boarding passes when you leave).
- mlinhares 2y agoThat is one thing a lot of people miss, with even less people around, odds you will be snatched are much higher, as they likely have to "meet quotas".
- titaphraz 2y agoCountries all over the world are issuing US travel warnings. If there's an error or mistake on your visa you risk being detained by ICE for weeks on end or even end up in the Gulag in El Salvador. For European visitors, they can see the fascism miles away. A lot of Europe was occupied by Hitler while the US wasn't. The extraordinary claim that Musk's salute wasn't a Nazi salute is mind boggling. Even when people have seen it side by side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Zwiv8erk0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Zwiv8erk0
- drstewart 2y ago>Countries all over the world are issuing US travel warnings. Can you post the plain text of these "travel warnings"?
- dangrie158 2y agoThis is linked right in the article: https://www.axios.com/2025/03/23/allies-issue-usa-travel-guidlines-transgender https://www.axios.com/2025/03/23/allies-issue-usa-travel-gui... In it you’ll find several direct links to the official warnings
- drstewart 2y ago>The U.K. government's "foreign travel advice" page for the U.S. warns travelers to "comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry." Oh my god it's like Nazi Germany!
- jeroenhd 2y agoIt's mostly a footnote in the form of "contact the embassy if you're trans/non-binary". The implication seems to be that those people will need to alter their passports (again) to gain access. Germany also added a warning that minor criminal history can be a reason for imprisonment and deportation, as well as a reminder that an American visa or ESTA document are meaningless against an unwilling border patrol agent: Weder eine gültige ESTA-Genehmigung noch ein gültiges US-Visum begründen einen Anspruch auf Einreise in die USA. Die endgültige Entscheidung über die Einreise trifft der US-Grenzbeamte. Es empfiehlt sich, Nachweise über die Rückreise (z.B. Flugbuchung) bei der Einreise mitzuführen. Gegen dessen Entscheidung gibt es keinen Rechtsbehelf. Den deutschen Auslandsvertretungen ist es nicht möglich, auf die Rückgängigmachung einer Einreiseverweigerung hinzuwirken. Reisende sollten ausschließlich mit einem gültigen ESTA oder Visum in die USA reisen, das dem geplanten Aufenthaltszweck entspricht. Vorstrafen in den USA, falsche Angaben zum Aufenthaltszweck oder eine auch nur geringfügige Überschreitung der Aufenthaltsdauer bei Reisen können bei Ein- bzw. Ausreise zu Festnahme, Abschiebehaft und Abschiebung führen. Denmark has added this to their VISA page: Når du skal søge om ESTA eller visum til USA, er der to kønsbetegnelser at vælge imellem: mand eller kvinde. Hvis du har kønsbetegnelsen X i dit pas, eller du har skiftet køn, anbefales det at kontakte den amerikanske ambassade forud for rejsen for vejledning om, hvordan du skal forholde dig. Germany added this: Die ESTA-Beantragung ist gebührenpflichtig (21 USD). Reisende in die USA müssen bei ESTA- oder Visumanträgen entweder das Geschlecht „männlich“ oder „weiblich“ angeben; relevant ist hierbei der Geschlechtseintrag der antragstellenden Person zum Zeitpunkt der Geburt. Reisende, die den Geschlechtseintrag „X“ innehaben oder deren aktueller Geschlechtseintrag von ihrem Geschlechtseintrag bei Geburt abweicht, sollten vor Einreise die zuständige Auslandsvertretung der USA in Deutschland kontaktieren und die geltenden Einreisevoraussetzungen in Erfahrung zu bringen. The Finnish travel advice has something similar: Yhdysvallat on myös antanut 24.2.2025 toimeenpanomääräyksen (25 STATE 11402), jonka mukaan Yhdysvaltojen ESTA:a tai viisumia hakevan on jatkossa ilmoitettava sukupuolekseen joko ”mies” tai ”nainen”. Määräyksen mukaan hakijan on hakemuksessa ilmoitettava syntymähetkellä vahvistettu sukupuolensa. Jos hakijan nykyinen passiin merkitty sukupuoli poikkeaa hänen syntymässä vahvistetusta sukupuolestaan, Yhdysvaltojen viranomaiset voivat evätä luvan maahantuloon. Maahantulon edellytykset on suositeltavaa varmistaa etukäteen Yhdysvaltain viranomaisilta. Suomen passissa ei ole sukupuolimerkintää X. Jos esim. kaksoiskansalaisella on passi, jossa X-merkintä on, voi maahantulon edellytykset tarkistaa etukäteen Yhdysvaltain viranomaisilta.
- peeters 2y agoKnock, knock. Who's there? Me, can I come in? I don't know, come in and we'll find out. ...ok WHAT THE HELL WHY DID YOU COME IN YOU'RE NOT WELCOME HERE ...sorry but you said- I DON'T CARE WHAT I SAID. ...OK fine I'll just be leaving. OH YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST LEAVE? YOU CANT LEAVE! You'll be locked in my dank basement for the next five days while I fill out the paperwork for you to be dragged out of the house! But I just said I'm willing to leave voluntarily!
- ta1243 2y agoIt does feel that if you have to travel to america, using pre-clearance in a non-hostile state like Canada would be sensible. They can deny you entry, but you're not going to be locked up in some sex dungeon for a week in Toronto
- franze 2y agoFlying to NY for a long weekend was a thing. Now people here only say it sarcastically.
- Brendinooo 2y ago>This newsletter doesn’t delve into politics, and the reason for this change is both pretty obvious and not in need of further discussion here. Can someone state the obvious for me please? The two thoughts in my head were "this is because tourism is down" and "this is because migrants/asylum seekers aren't crossing the border at the moment". I would think you'd draw different conclusions if it's one or the other, but, regarding the latter, I don't know how many of them cross the border at the border and how many typically do it with a plane ticket.
- johanvts 2y agoA general sense that the US is actively trying to hurt us in the rest of the world. Enabling Putin, stopping USAID programs, imposing tariffs etc. the list is long by now. Just makes you not feel like supporting it by buying US or going there and spending money. Secondly lots of stories about tourists being detained by ICE make it feel even almost scary to go.
- Brendinooo 2y agoI get that narrative. I guess my point is that, if border crossings at the US-Mexico border are down 90%+ compared to last year, and if some migrants/asylum seekers fly in instead of crossing a border on foot/in a car, then how much of this decrease is would-be migrants deciding it's not a good time, and how much of this is would-be tourists being scared of detention? Is that even possible to know?
- johanvts 2y agoI guess immigrants where always worried about being detained, but german tourists previously where not.
- ThatMedicIsASpy 2y agoI was.. with my friend visiting family. Not knowing where they live - because the person picking them up is waiting at the airport (8h detained, 10y ago). Another one being accused of selling drugs in LA (never been there, detained for 2 days, banned and put on a flight back home, 5y ago)
- martin_henk 2y agoYou have cooked yourself
- QuantumSeed 2y agoI've cancelled my planned visits outside of the US for fear of being unwelcome and fear of difficulty getting back into the US.
- kolektiv 2y agoJust to note that in most places at the moment (unless you turn up in that red baseball cap...) the attitude to most Americans is likely to be a kind of horrified pity (again, unless you start saying how great it all is). Most people are generally aware that Trump doesn't have universal support, and unlike your own media apparently, we do get coverage of protests and so on. Getting back into your own country though, yeah that might be a problem. Sorry.
- bergie 2y agoIn the world of sailboat cruising, a decent indicator seems to be whether the boats still fly stars-and-stripes, or have switched to a state flag.
- egorfine 2y ago> I went to the CBP’s Average Wait Time website and found a rich dataset Its days are counted now that they know about its existence.
- gmac 2y agos/counted/numbered/ (probably for no logical reason, that's just the phrase)
- egorfine 2y agoSame here. Canceled my plans for US visits for the near future. Absolutely zero desire to have part in that. Will spend my money elsewhere.
- toomuchtodo 2y agoAs an American, thank you.
- egorfine 2y agoYour comment could be understood both ways lol
- toomuchtodo 2y agoA certain cohort of the population ignores logic and reason, and runs on vibes and tribalism. They will only understand economic pain, when it hurts them personally, based on the evidence. And so, the rest of the world must incur economic pain in the US so the electorate understands its place in the economic system.
- aorloff 2y agoSomehow, they will still blame Biden, Kamala and Obama.
- DeathArrow 2y ago[flagged]
- xyst 2y agoGood. Take your money elsewhere. Urge conference organizers to move venues away from USA. If organizers ignore pleas, then cancel it all together. I’m American and this administration has set this country back decades. The only way people will rise up here is if their pockets are hurting. 401K accounts are down bad. Imports of American goods down significantly. Industries that relied on global trade partners (agriculture?) are getting decimated. Folks have effectively self owned themselves.
- ultim8k 2y agoI'm waiting to see the effects of the brain drain
- codybontecou 2y agoKnow of any good programs that countries are offering to accelerate this?
- ceejayoz 2y agoI’ve been getting ads from NZ and the UK.
- Nextgrid 2y agoUK is its own kind of dump, and has the same anti-immigrant dumpster fire being stoked by the media to distract the populace while the politicians & their friends finish looting what little is left of the country. Would not recommend.
- twixfel 2y agoThe UK has the same problems the rest of Europe has. It’s not special.
- ceejayoz 2y agoThey ragequit the rest of Europe, which absolutely presents them some special problems now.
- twixfel 2y agoIt has the same problems of having an ageing population as the rest of Europe. Brexit is bad but relatively small in comparison to the demographic challenges. I live in Germany and it's in a sorry state too, because there are so many old people.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- PaulRobinson 2y agoIf non-US citizens can be deported to El Salvador without due process for having a tattoo that an ICE officer deems to be "gang-related", you're immediately going to alienate most of the World's population from wanting to visit for any purpose. The lack of due process and the threat of extradition on a whim is one that feels less likely to happen to me as a caucasian with US citizens as family, but the impact of it would be life-changingly poor. I'd rather just not travel to the US, for tourism, family or business reasons. I'm not sure anything done in the last 3 months is much of a surprise to people who listened to his campaign talking points. It seems to me that people just thought he was a lying politician who lies, and this was just more lying. What's caught people out is that he's doing it all, and believes SCOTUS will never condemn or find illegal a thing he has done so due process is an abstract concept only, and others consider themselves immune for actions covered by Exec Order. It's all quite sad and worrying.
- SketchySeaBeast 2y agoWhen they'll deport innocent US citizens to El Salvador and then argue it's impossible to get them back I don't have any hope at all as a visitor. There's no way in hell I'm stepping foot in the United States right now.
- senordevnyc 2y agoTo be fair, I don’t think we have any evidence of this happening to a citizen yet. I’m guessing we will soon though :(
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- SketchySeaBeast 2y agoGood point, the man I was thinking of isn't a citizen. But even though the administration has admitted it was an error, they still aren't interested in seeing him returned.
- 1y ago
- w-m 2y agoIt matches my anecdotal experience here (from Germany). When talking about travelling to the US, previously the discussions of the drawbacks would circle around climate impact, expense or flight time. Recently, this has shifted to feeling unwelcome or unsafe. I talked to two different people last week who had gone to the US regularly in the past years, who have decided to not go this year (attending a wedding and the other for touristic reasons), due to the current political climate.
- ulfw 2y agoI mean it's not surprising. US Immigration seems to have been told to reject whoever they feel like, interrogate for hours in hopes of finding anything no matter how random to deny entry. https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/travel-news/an-australian-was-denied-us-entry-for-bizarre-reasons-he-s-not-alone-20250403-p5lov8.html https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/travel-news/an-australian-w...
- throw0101c 2y agoUS-CA bookings have dropped 70%: > Using forward booking data from a major GDS supplier, we've compared the total bookings held at this point last year with those recorded this week for the upcoming summer season. The decline is striking — bookings are down by over 70% in every month through to the end of September. This sharp drop suggests that travellers are holding off on making reservations, likely due to ongoing uncertainty surrounding the broader trade dispute. * https://www.oag.com/blog/canada-us-airline-capacity-aviation-market https://www.oag.com/blog/canada-us-airline-capacity-aviation... * https://thehill.com/business/5218113-us-canada-airline-bookings-drop-trump-tariffs/ https://thehill.com/business/5218113-us-canada-airline-booki...
- BLKNSLVR 2y agoCan DOGE therefore justify cutting a whole lot of jobs that process tourists? Or has that already been privatised?
- BikiniPrince 2y agoTSA and all of its security theater is going to get the boot. Airports can manage their own security. That won’t change international customs which is still managed federally.
- bilbo0s 2y agoAirports can manage their own security Um. I'm thinking this comment won't age well.
- stephen_g 2y agoThat’s basically the system we have in Australia - customs and immigration handled by officers of the Federal Government, and generally Federal police patrol airports (one of the only places you will normally see them if you don’t live in Canberra), and then the airports have private security companies do the security screening. There are still Federal standards they have to comply with but it’s more reasonable than the US (we never had to take off our shoes and liquids of any size have been allowed again for years as long as you’re only going to the domestic part of the airport, they’re separated here)
- Jach 2y agoI really hope to see it. The TSA going away is my current measuring stick for whether DOGE has actually accomplished anything significantly valuable.
- p_l 2y agoTSA including all of its security theatre was on life support because of insurance premiums - it allowed some creative actuarial accounting that shifted responsibilities and reduced insurance costs for airlines in post-9/11 insanity
- n4r9 2y agoCan anyone explain why the number of US passengers increased in a proportion at the same time? Perhaps airlines dropped prices due to the lower demand, causing US citizens to snap up tickets?
- mlinhares 2y agoSpring break.
- n4r9 2y agoThat's good to know, but presumably that happens every year so doesn't explain the year-on-year increase in March shown in the graph.
- razepan 2y agoHow about a dismantling of the USGOV and the spike is from former foreign service personnel returning home.
- globnomulous 2y agoMaybe US business people are traveling to other countries to compensate for the resistance or refusal of international partners to travel to a fascist state.
- skeeter2020 2y agomaybe Americans semi-permanently abroad assume other countries will employ reciprocal craziness, like a trade war, and are running home before they get locked up too?
- dfxm12 2y agoIt happens every year, but not necessarily on the same dates, both year to year and family to family, depending largely on where you or your kids go to school. Most people I know had spring break Mar 17-23 this year. It was a few weeks earlier last year.
- sega_sai 2y agoI have friends who were asked about their social media accounts at the US border. I.e. like you have in Russia, where they can check your Telegram for the subscription to opposition channels. It's not surprising that people are reluctant to travel to the US now.
- account42 1y agoSocial media accounts have been a question on the ESTA application for at least five years.
- taylodl 2y agoWhy would a foreigner visit the US when you may be detained and treated like an animal at any time for the most trivial of reasons? Furthermore, why would you visit a country that's actively undermining others around the world? Why would you provide your financial support to that? It's the same reason Tesla sales have fallen off a cliff. You can only mistreat people so much before they push back.
- bambax 2y ago[flagged]
- WesolyKubeczek 2y agoI often have a hard time telling which is the madman and which is the Nazi friend.
- taylodl 2y agoFor business meetings, as you say, the world is a big place and if you really need to meet person-to-person in North America then you have both Canada and Mexico as options.
- hulitu 2y ago> Why would a foreigner visit the US when you may be detained and treated like an animal at any time for the most trivial of reasons? Furthermore, why would you visit a country that's actively undermining others around the world? Why would you provide your financial support to that? Because it worked so well in the last years. /s
- vain 2y agoThis at least reflects my feelings about visiting anytime soon. I mean if I was just put on a flight back (for a tweet they found on my phone or such), that'd be kind of bearable. At least one visitor from the UK got locked up in a facility for a week.
- paulgb 2y ago
- xnx 2y agoGlobal depression is going to result in a whole lot less of all kinds of economic activity.
- curtisszmania 2y ago[dead]
- I_am_tiberius 2y agoI guess in the 1930s, Americans had similar thoughts about Germans.
- ta1243 2y agoMany americans loved what Hitler was doing to Make Germany Great Again. Charles Lindbergh for example blamed the Jews for WW2 > National polls showed that when England and France declared war on Germany, in 1939, less than 10 percent of our [USA] population favored a similar course for America. ... The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt administration.
- brookst 2y agoWe don’t like to talk about it but there were literal, actual Nazi rallies in support of Germany. And not fringe, either — notably one at Madison Square Garden.
- bilbo0s 2y agoIn fairness, there are still nazi rallies all across the country. It's them forcing their freedom of assembly and speech rights on everyone. Doesn't necessarily mean everyone in the US today is a nazi. Even the Trump brigade are more fascists than nazis. Not that it's a good thing, just pointing out the distinction.
- brookst 2y agoI have no complaints with the fact that either nazi or fascist rallies are allowed, but I have great objection to what it says about the country that they were/are attended in relatively large numbers.
- akuchling 2y agoA documentary from PBS's American Experience: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/nazi-town-usa/ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/nazi-town-...
- aurizon 2y agoThe 'sea' of data is huge - I am doubtless entered into it multiple times with all manner of associated data. The ICE casts it's net (with a pack of valid as well as a far number of non-valid associations) through this sea and when it lifts it there are number of 'fish' therein. I will be in there, among the silvery bodies and the attached associations. I am 'by-catch' as I have no crime ever - but millions of tons of bycatch die even if discarded. There is an old French Canadian poem, that says, in essence - 'The wind might roar, and the waves they might dash, but you will not drown on Lac Sainte Pierre - so long as you stay on the shore.
- aurizon 2y agohttps://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/content/wreck-julie-plante https://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/content/wreck-julie-plante
- pveierland 2y agoBeyond the recent chilling effects from people being detained, the idea of having your digital presence scanned and judged by a flaky arbiter at the border, or having your devices imaged and/or backdoored are big turnoffs for me.
- Jcampuzano2 2y agoAs a US citizen who despises Trump and has international travel in the near future that was booked long ago, even I almost consider cancelling just due to the fact that basically anywhere I go will almost certainly have immediate negative thoughts about any US citizens now. Trump has ruined basically all our credibility on a global scale.
- BikiniPrince 2y ago[flagged]
- GardenLetter27 2y agoThose affected weren't from the third world though. I have travelled for conferences in the US several times, now I'd be worried they'd argue you need a B-1 visa instead of ESTA waiver if you visit the company office after the conference, etc. And detain you for weeks when you don't have it. The USA is supposed to be the land of the free.
- theGeatZhopa 2y agothank you mr. Presiden D(r)umb. I cancelled my plans.
- chrizel 2y agoMe and my wife had the plans of visiting the US every year for vacation before our daughter starts with school in a couple of years. Not anymore. I think this administration will not only destroy a lot of goodwill and business relationships, but also the dreams of many people who had a positive attitude towards the US.
- baxtr 2y agoI think it's relevant to consider the baseline. Based on a quick online research, I estimate there are about 30-40k visitors landing from Europe in the US on any day. So roughly 3 million people in the last 3 months. I have seen maybe 5-10 very prominent cases in the last 3 months. Are these numbers roughly correct? Do we have any knowledge that this number is higher than before?
- stuartjohnson12 2y agoI would guess that this is a similar situation to mass shootings at school - quantitatively low risk, qualitatively both repeating and horrifying enough that most Europeans would choose drastic measures to minimise the risk of such a thing rather than accept it as a cost of doing business.
- jajko 2y agoIts like Tesla's FSD killing people. The threshold for acceptance of fuckups is very small, especially when you don't do anything wrong and there is a lot of needless humiliation. Why risk it? There are actually nice welcoming places all over the globe.
- tgv 2y agoPeople buy lottery tickets knowing very well they are almost certainly not going to win. But you never know. You might get rich. You buy the ticket is the prize is tempting enough. Likewise, you avoid a low probability risk when the outcome is bad enough.
- neogodless 2y agoSee also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43610246 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43610246 Fewer Foreign Passengers Are Flying to the US (jasher.substack.com) 212+ points, 128+ comments (posted slightly earlier)
- potato3732842 2y agoThat article links to this article.
- theGeatZhopa 2y agohave you tried to click it? Because, for me, I get a pretty long discussion showed.
- neogodless 2y agoYes, if you click through to the substack, that article links to this axios article. But as far as Hacker News submissions, the other one was submitted earlier, and has over 300 comments. Arguably @dang or @tomhow might ultimately combine them, but for anyone curious you'll find better (or at least a lot more) discussion on the other article.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- dang 2y agoWe've moved the comments hither.
- riehwvfbk 2y agoIt also happens to be ridiculously overpriced for what you get as a tourist, and in tough economic times satisfying one's curiosity about the US may not be as high on the list. But yes, there is also the political climate.
- davidmurdoch 2y agoDo you think the US is a monoculture?
- dfxm12 2y agoLaw enforcement is a monoculture.
- davidmurdoch 2y agoThe comment I replied to is about US tourism. What are you referring to?
- dfxm12 2y agoThe quote But yes, there is also the political climate coupled with the article & what's generally going on in the world.
- davidmurdoch 2y agoDid you honestly think my question about monoculture was directed at their "political climate" comment and not the comment about cost? I did not think their comments implied a connection between the value of being a tourist in the US and a their concerns over politics. Maybe if it were much cheaper they wouldn't care about the politics, but that doesn't seem likely to me.
- dfxm12 2y agoYes, but reading over this thread, you've made it clear how you've misinterpreted the post you originally responded to.
- bromuro 2y agoSame here. Hoped this year to visit my collegues from the US, I won’t travel there at these conditions.
- perfunctory 2y agoSo this period last year the visits went up 300K, and this year they are down 200K. So compared to the two year ago it's still up 100K? Am I missing anything? It would be interesting to see the data over a multi-year period. edit: they actually even say that the data "go back for 3 years", but only show 1 year of data.
- brookst 2y agoIt makes sense that 2024 had more travel than 2023, given Covid. But a longer timeline view would be nice, as would measurements in percent rather than numbers.
- frm88 2y agoAsk and you shall receive :) https://www.axios.com/2025/04/04/foreign-visits-american-airports-travel-warnings https://www.axios.com/2025/04/04/foreign-visits-american-air... - A sight uptick followed, but the number was still down 18.4% as of March 28 versus the same time last year. - Compare that to the number of U.S. citizens returning to the country, which was up nearly 14% by late March from the year earlier.
- mschoch 2y ago[dead]
- hartator 2y agoI think it’s a reality for sure, but aren’t the graphes showing the reverse, that downwards trend started before all of these US politics changes and news and +80k in April 2024 -80k in April 2025 just mean we are back to the April 2023 numbers?
- newsclues 2y agoAre these changes long term trends? Is the reporting and media coverage on this, going to contribute to the potential harm of this being a long term impact? (is the hype creating the conditions?)
- Juliate 2y agoAre the USA (Trump) changes a long term trend? Or just a foolish irrational skit they'll take on decades to come back from, if ever? Is the media coverage supposed to entertain the powers that be, or to report things as they are?
- skc 2y agoMakes sense. Anyone with even half a brain wouldn't take the risk of getting caught up in this ICE nonsense.
- jmyeet 2y agoI completely understand why. It is difficult to comprehend how much damage is being doen to America's reputation and soft power. I feel it necessary to give the following advice: 1. Erase your phone before entering the US. Restore it from backup after arrival. CBP has the right to inspect your phone. While you may be able to refuse, likely this means you'll be denied entry and there's nothing you can do about that unless you're lawful permanent resident ("LPR"); 2. Don't post on social media under your real name about topics that are likely to get you into trouble. The big ones are anything pro-Palestine or anything critical of Trump; 3. If you are an LPR, do not sign anything they want you to sign if you're detained. What they're trying to do is to get you to voluntarily surrender your LPR status [1]. You have the right to be paroled into the US. Only an immigration judge can forcibly revoke your status; 4. There's stricter enforcement of rules that always existed, particularly abandonment of residency. A green card isn't (and was never intended as) a way to visit the US freely a few weeks a year while living somewhere else; 5. If you are a visa holder you have fewer rights. If you live in the US on a valid visa, I would be extremely hesitant to travel outside the US at all; and 6. Notify friends and family of your travel plans. Additionally, if your country supports it, register your travel with your embassy. The US version of this is STEP [2]. You want someone to make enquiries on your behalf if you are detained and are unable to make outside communications. It's wild that this is where we are. [1]: https://www.uscis.gov/i-407 https://www.uscis.gov/i-407 [2]: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/step.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-tra...
- stephen_g 2y agoGood advice, but as an Australian looking on, I feel like it needs to be added as number one - 1. Reconsider your need to travel to the US if possible. The company I work for has a small branch office in DC, the VP of our US option was out here in just back in December and we were chatting at the Christmas party how I was keen to head over at some point if it would be useful for a project we’re doing for a US customer. Today I would probably politely decline and just continue meeting remotely if they asked me if I could travel over for a week or two.
- belter 2y ago"Trump says he'd 'love' to send American citizens to El Salvador federal prison" - https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-hed-love-send-35005760 https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/donald-trump-hed-love...
- outside1234 2y agoThis doesn't surprise me in the least. I wouldn't want to get locked up in a ICE jail either. Not to mention support an immoral administration or country that is essentially blackmailing the rest of the world.
- ghc 2y agoI mean, I'm a US citizen and I'm not doing foreign travel any time soon because I don't want to fly into the US either. With the way ICE is acting, I'm not going to count on my citizenship to protect me from violations of my constitutional rights.
- YPPH 2y agoSpot on, although I'm not sure US citizens are in a much better position.
- tempfile 2y agoThere was a post on HN a few weeks ago from the Recurse Center immigration advisor, and a decent proportion of comments were about the alarming situation in the US. I probably would have applied, but I won't travel to the US while conditions are as they are.
- Vivtek 2y agoThere's a shocker. Why would anyone fly to a country that's proud of shackling them and keeping them in detention without notifying their families? With the added bonus that next week they might be rendered to a slave gulag in El Salvador?
- rbultje 2y agoMaybe related - I noticed that hotel room prices in New York dropped, they used to start at $350/night just a few months ago, now you can get them for $150/night.
- Reubachi 2y agoit's the "Dead" season right no, late march early april. Great time to go to disney, nyc, etc.
- dchuk 2y agoTerrible time to go to Disney, late March early April is spring break for basically the whole country
- reylas 2y agoI just got back. Parks were not busy at all.
- addicted 2y agoHotel prices for $150 are unheard of in NYC since the pandemic. This isn’t just dead season
- jinushaun 2y agoNYC is New York. Also NYC doesn’t have a “dead” season. It’s crowded versus overcrowded.
- uytwe 2y ago[flagged]
- nowandlater 2y agoI feel like I'm spinning, hitting the spiral of the drain where civilization is to inevitably pass through, gone. The many who suffered and continue to suffer from iniquities of the human race carry the tonnage of likewise experiences, know a truth that is so impossible to know: "It was useless to close one's eyes or turn one's back to it because it was all around, in every direction, all the way to the horizon. It was not possible for us nor did we want to become islands; the just among us, neither more nor less numerous than in any other human group, felt remorse, shame, and pain for the misdeeds that others and not they had committed, and in which they felt involved, because they sensed that what had happened around them and in their presence, and in them, was irrevocable. Never again could it be cleansed; it would prove that man, the human species - we, in short - had the potential to construct an infinite enormity of pain, and that pain is the only force created from nothing, without cost and without effort. It is enough not to see, not to listen, not to act." - Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved
- avalys 2y agoI see all these articles about Canadian and European hate for the US, and anti-US sentiment in general. They all sadden me. The US is made up of 350 million people. Only one of them is Donald Trump. Most of the country didn’t vote for him. We still value our friends and allies, even if the stooge Putin got elected does not.
- marvin 2y agoNorwegian here. People collectively lost their minds after the 2024 election. The USA is a great country, embodying values that bring out the best in humanity. You don't deserve this hate.
- askonomm 2y agoI mean the rot goes much deeper than Donald Trump. Most of the US cabinet and top leaders are actively hostile towards what used to be ally states. Spreading lies, propaganda, insults and threatening to invade and take away our land. Meanwhile treating its own people like slaves. USA has become almost indistinguishable from Russia in that regard.
- adamc 2y agoThe Cabinet was all selected by DJT and approved by a compliant Senate despite historically poor qualifications. It reflects the dynamics of the Republican party, and that they won the election tells you something about America.
- throaway1989 2y agoThey should make you sad. The leader of your country said we suck and that we would be better off being a part of the USA (and that he would MAKE us be a part of the USA)! It doesn't matter how many of you didn't vote for him when hes the one making the decisions.
- kccqzy 2y agoTrump won the popular vote unfortunately. Most of the country couldn't vote at all because they are immigrants (not citizens) or because of any of the structural reasons why they couldn't take time off to vote or they were intimated at the ballot box. Voting day still isn't a federal holiday.
- Workaccount2 2y agoThe US, Trump, is trying to "refinance" global trade with the united states. The short of it is that the Trump wants countries to pay more to be part of the west's "protection blanket". Most of the "paying more" will come in the form of a weaker dollar, devaluing foreign held treasuries and making US industry more competitive with local manufacturers. Trump seems to be going nuclear with this plan, and because he obviously is not particularly smart or diplomatic, I don't think he grasps the immense second and third order effects this will have on perceptions of America. American goods might get cheaper, but maybe no one will want to buy them. No one will want to travel to the US. No one will want to live in the US. So dumb.
- haspre 2y agothis is a perfect "no shit, Sherlock"-headline
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- xyst 2y agoGood. Stay away. People that have been here for years are getting picked up off the streets, given no due process, and deported. Some sent to a super max prison in El Salvador [1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/20/deported-because-of-his-tattoos-has-the-us-targeted-venezuelans-for-their-body-art https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/20/deported-bec...
- mcflubbins 2y agoThe most concerning aspect of these stories are the ones where there's never an explanation of _why_ the person was detained. I don't know if they ever found out what happened. In some cases its clear but others seem like an administrative error.
- safgasCVS 2y agoAmerica's unwavering support for a lunatic country openly and joyously committing acts of unspeakable horrors probably not helping. Your president boasted on twitter about mass murdering a village tribal gathering. Wonderful country you got there
- ramshanker 2y ago2md order effect, Hotel bookings!
- buyucu 2y agoI'm one of them! I decided against a US trip in early March, and attended by video instead. I'm not eager to visit a country where a psycho border agent can decide to detain people for multiple weeks.
- UncleEntity 2y agoDepending on your tattoos you might get an all expense paid permanent vacation to El Salvador.
- eggy 2y agoI'll have a better look later at the methods and sources used, but given the US crack down on border policies from the previous minimal effort achieved by the Biden administration in securing our borders, this is to be expected. It's been less than three months from Trump taking office. Like the stock market this will swing back over the year. The US voted for change with borders being a top issue. It is going to take a while to come back to center from the actions to effect the change. Axios is not exactly a great objective source as rated by third-party media watchers as being left leaning, Soros funded. It would be great to see comparable stats from the UK and Canada and Germany where I'd expect the graph to be like the US Biden-era policies. Seeing how the UK and the others have been flooded with immigration this past decade, I'd expect to see similar "falling off a cliff" stats once they tighten their borders and policies. I see this as a necessary counter swing of the pendulum when you go from almost no scrutiny to normal scrutiny at the borders. It will stabilize to a norm, so I am not concerned. I had very bad border experiences in the late 80s in England and France, so I have some emotional experience to temper my opinion here. It sucks to be singled out unfairly or due to operator error in filling out forms, but how just how many Canadians have had this bad experience in the past 3 months compared to the 17 years of data previous? Was the reporting and SOPs of the border equivalent for statistical purposes?
- jacknews 2y agoPart of that is they seemed to start aggressively denying visa applications, after Trump.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Ekaros 2y agoAlso there is big question what is expected out come for being denied entry. Waiting on airport for next open outbound flight? Spending days or weeks in some inhumane facility? Later one doesn't seem reasonable risk to take...
- orwin 2y agoPeople of my family are flying in in March. New restrictions are in place for people who visited specific countries. My only advice to fellow Europeans who want to travel to the US is to get issued a new passport and, if you have to, lie on your ESTA if you spent any time in Cuba or in the Middle East since 2011 (Your trips are linked to your passport ID)
- Nostrada 2y agoLying to the border police is a terrible idea
- ty6853 2y agoYou should not lie to them, but they basically play a huge bluff game. They will scare you into thinking they know all. They do not, they are largely playing a confidence game. Cartel members or their clients who are coached will make it through no problem with the right story if they already have a visa. A relatively innocent european who admits they are going to tattoo someone, because they are naive, will get sniffed out and crucified. I have been to Iraq and Syria so I have been subjected to imprisonment and/or intense questioning almost everytime I enter. I'm pretty familiar with their system and interrogation techniques.
- ciupicri 2y ago> New restrictions are in place for people who visited specific countries New?! They've been suspicious about these travels for the past 20 years or so.
- orwin 2y agoI've been in the US despite visiting two fo those countries. Now, if you went to Cuba after 2021, you're completely barred for entry it seems, which, to be honest is weird. anyway like i said, your travels are link to your passport number, just ask a new one.
- DeathArrow 2y ago[flagged]
- rayiner 2y ago[flagged]
- swat535 2y agoAs a Middle Eastern Canadian, I’ve been harassed at the U.S. border more times than I can count—often detained and questioned for hours, leading to major delays and unnecessary stress. It’s happened so frequently that I've completely stopped visiting the U.S. and avoid any connection that involves touching U.S. soil. It makes travel a bit more complicated, but honestly, it's worth it. These days, my favorite place to visit is Europe. Even the UK, which can sometimes be tricky for travelers, has never been an issue for me. I’ve only ever had polite and respectful interactions there. And when crossing into Germany in particular, I’ve found the officials to be consistently professional and efficient.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- dtquad 2y agoA lot of US undocumented immigration is not people jumping the US-Mexico border but instead people from India, the Middle East, and China intentionally overstaying their Visas. Obviously they don't want to come during an administration that is hard on immigration.
- jeanlucas 2y agoI look like a latino, although I have no tattoos I'm not risking it right now. Not even for tech conferences.
- greatgib 2y agoA few years ago, when US ESTA and visa process started to require that you declare your social network accounts, a lot of people were in a mind like "who cares? I have nothing to hide so I don't see the problem" And now we can see the problem that this can create you huge problems just by posting lawful content that is not positive to Trump and his policies...