How dangerous is to travel to the US nowadays?

Hello!

I have a coworker travelling there in July. Unwillingly, I've been more or less been kept in the loop what preparing the trip implies and I'm pretty horrified.

Up until now, these are some of demands made (and accepted):

- full disclosure and acess to social networks
- criminal record
- recent photo, perfectly groomed and in the attire to be used to travel there. No deviations will be tolerated from the supplied photo.
- complete list of possible identifying marks on the body, with pictures (tattoos, moles, melanistic spots, scars, etc)
- name and social networks of parents, siblings and other close relatives, including children.

The person is separated with two children; this is causing a lot of friction.
- has already been warned an interview of up to two hours will be held upon arrival.

The person speaks broken english at best.
- disclosure of place of employment and other connections to public organizations

They are connected to a local soccer club and a youth sports association.

To add to all of this, this isn't a standard caucasian human but someone who has looks that can be taken for someone from the middle east, slightly darker shade of skin included.

Flying from southern europe straight to Florida.

I'm concerned. I would not go, full stop. They have people waiting there for them but nonetheless. Considering the heated state of affairs, it is something I consider of not easily to overlook risk.

I had the same experience in Latin America and Asia. Although I did get stopped in Singapore for a kitchen knife I bought in Bali. They let me go and let me keep the knife!

Still the same.

My observation is that the Canadian travel advisories site generally seems to be updated in a timely manner. Very soon after Trump's invasion of Iran, for example, multiple Middle Eastern countries, including the UAE, were marked as "Avoid all travel" or "Avoid non-essential travel".

The fact that they mark the US as lower-risk than multiple European countries that I would consider much safer definitely lowers my trust in them, though.

Don't go. At all, for any reason. If what has already transpired during Trump's second term hasn't been enough reason to avoid travel, its on him if anything bad happens.

Can't say you weren't warned.

If I was him, I would not go. Simple as that. The US is no safe place for travel.

Even Americans, who aren't Caucasian, are being put into ICE detention (or deported). The US is a dangerous place for anyone with darker skin. Even worse for visitors. Not even safe for Canadians.

You used to hear about needing a burner phone when visiting China, that it is now also required to visit the US is insane.

Clearly I'm ignorant due to not traveling out of the country in decades, but those demands are shocking to me. We really have devolved into a fascist shithole, huh? They'll probably be fine, but I certainly wouldn't risk it.

Realistically, most people entering as tourists need to be concerned with CBP asking for unlocked access to your phone, which will disappear into a back room for a few minutes while they presumably steal all your credentials. The broader scare stories about detention, interrogation, and deportation are really very rare.

I have some (stupid) non-white-passing family that have been travelling to the US (including Florida) regularly and they have had zero issues.

I would absolutely not go. Full stop. But when you look at the real numbers, tourist entry into the US isn’t down all that much and most people who desire to go don’t have any issues with immigration.

After reading all these comments, the impression I'm getting is: shithole country

Forget it. Even before this shit happened, a middle eastern looking friend of mine had to stop going to US conferences because he would always get turned away at the border.

I'm a white Texan and now try to avoid flying anywhere, even in the United States, due to ICE's presence at airports. I'm glad your coworker is such an optimist and sees this as an opportunity, but that's completely illogical. If someone were to tell me that they paid for me to have a one-on-one experience with a caged lion, I'd only see that as an opportunity to practice saying "no." Even if the lion told me it has countless job opportunities for me.

I live in America but I'm fairly disconnected from everything that's happening because I live in a very isolated area living a fairly isolated life. However from everything I'm hearing from the news, if I was in your position, I would not step foot here. The worst people imaginable are running the country and it's genuinely not safe for even the people already living here.

I definitely would not give them any of the information you listed, that's insane. These people cannot be trusted.

Unless it's of vital life and death importance that you come here, it's not worth the risk right now. Hopefully MAGA dies and sane people start running the country again, but right now I cannot in good consciousness recommend that you come here.

[quote]Low probability of incident, but very serious consequences if it happens[/quote]

That sums it up. OP's friend will probably be fine. It's just, if not they're not, it's really gonna suck