Tourism / esta in the current climate

[georgemuranyi]

Things are very uncertain in the US at the moment for people wanting to visit. there are stories about european tourists being detained or deported when coming in to the country. in the UK we still have esta applications if we want to visit for a holiday but how deep do the immigration agents dig when a tourist visits?

Let's say someone did something in the past (that didn't result in any criminal convictions) or not even did something just that they were accused of something. is that something that might make it more difficult to visit? this might be something long ago 20 or 30 years?

I know that we are required to give our social media accounts and so on when we apply for an esta. do they look at those?

Any advice welcomed in this uncertain time!

[Ticktack]

Things are very uncertain in the US at the moment for people wanting to visit. there are stories about european tourists being detained or deported when coming in to the country. in the UK we still have esta applications if we want to visit for a holiday but how deep do the immigration agents dig when a tourist visits?

Let's say someone did something in the past (that didn't result in any criminal convictions) or not even did something just that they were accused of something. is that something that might make it more difficult to visit? this might be something long ago 20 or 30 years?

I know that we are required to give our social media accounts and so on when we apply for an esta. do they look at those?

Any advice welcomed in this uncertain time!

It might be slightly easier to give you an advice if you actually spit out what the problem is. There's 4 paragraphs here, and all just spins about on it's axis.

Simple example, I was incarcerated 15 years ago for stealing or hate crime. I said something bad on my FaceBook account 10 years ago. I over stayed on a holiday in Thailand 12 years ago.

The US ICE are there to do a job. To protect America from enemies Foreign and Domestic. It's just news about Europeans because of change in governance, it's actually been on for ever.

In 2022, Tyson Fury and his brother Tommy where banned from entering the US.

[georgemuranyi]

Sorry I will try to be clearer.

I have a friend. Many years ago this individual was addicted to alcohol and made lots of bad decisions. Some of these bad decisions led to people making accusations against him of a sexual nature. It was a big mess and it got ugly. However, at no time were any criminal charges made and the friend has no criminal record.

However people still sometimes come out of the woodwork and say nasty things. They can be posted online. So the question is can any of this be found out by ICE and would it affect someone's ability to get an esta or visit the USA?

[Ticktack]

Sorry I will try to be clearer.

I have a friend. Many years ago this individual was addicted to alcohol and made lots of bad decisions. Some of these bad decisions led to people making accusations against him of a sexual nature. It was a big mess and it got ugly. However, at no time were any criminal charges made and the friend has no criminal record.

However people still sometimes come out of the woodwork and say nasty things. They can be posted online. So the question is can any of this be found out by ICE and would it affect someone's ability to get an esta or visit the USA?

Based on scenario painted above, this cannot stop him from obtaining ESTA. He was never charged with anything as you've described.

However, obtaining ESTA and being admissible to the US are 2 different things. The scenario painted above also shouldn't stop him from entering the USA, but any range of other issues could.

[lolo2]

However people still sometimes come out of the woodwork and say nasty things. They can be posted online. So the question is can any of this be found out by ICE and would it affect someone's ability to get an esta or visit the USA?

Almost everybody uses or has a social media presence these days, there's no harm on putting this information in the form. Having some controversial posts or opinions online should not be an issue either, unless these are referring to things that can pose a risk to the US e.g. supporting terrorism, etc.

When you enter the US, you're screened by a USCBP officer at the port of entry, not by ICE.

[georgemuranyi]

Thank you for your help. I feel reassured about travelling places now.

[secret.simon]

I'd just repeat the advice I saw on some Canadian TV channels for the last few weeks; if you must go to the US, it would be safer to fly via airports outside the US that have US border pre-clearance than either drive directly to the border (from Canada or Mexico) or fly directly to the US.

That way, if they refuse you, you're still outside the US and won't have to go through some of the degrading behaviour that US CBP officals have been showing recently. The worst that would happen is that you will not be allowed to board the flight, rather than being detained or put in chains if you actually land in the US.