Looking at the stories it seems much safer to fly in than cross the land border.

This French guy flew in and was turned around. Unpleasant but much less unpleasant than the Canadian woman who crossed the land border from Mexico and was imprisoned in a for-profit prison for weeks while begging repeatedly to pay for a flight back to Canada (then after she was released, ICE claimed she would have been released earlier if they'd known she'd pay for her flight...)

She crossed from Mexico because she had been denied entry previously at another crossing.

From her story

>He asked why I had gone to the San Diego border the second time to apply. I explained that that was where my lawyer’s offices were, and that he had wanted to accompany me to ensure there were no issues.

When you apply for entry into a country after a denial, you do so from outside the country.

Are you her lawyer?

Your comment is out of context, but to add to the case, yes that's how you do it. You don't need to be a lawyer to know this, you can consult one.

Mexico is outside the US. My guess is she fibbed on the form in some way. Or they thought she did.

Does that justify the two weeks of detainment in a for-profit prison?

He didn't say at at all it justified.

As someone not familiar with the case, I personally did find it pertinent information.

Which in normal moral fair society doesn't change anything. But US treats other nationalities like subhumans, and thats not even the issue of current administration but a long term situation for at least 2 decades I keep following the topic.

But as long as its not happening to them or their closest ones US folks generally don't seem to care (enough). I don't think EU has it any better just to be clear, we humans seem to be generally deeply flawed creatures.

Treating people from other countries as a threat either politically or economically has nothing to do with think they are subhuman.

In fact, if it was actually what they thought they would allow entry to them for exploitation, because a subhuman cannot reason or compete properly right?

It's funny that the real bigots are realizing that plenty of people have had enough of the racist moralist and that they would rather had tightly controlled entry to their country.

In the case of the article, it's quite funny, because the guy was apparently a political dissident, one that does not even live in the country (so what he has to say is not only irrelevant but also dangerous because he won't have to bear the weight of his choices/propaganda).

Of course, this nonsense come from people complaining about Musk meddling in German politics. Before you can complain about others behavior, you need to fix yours so that it at least matches your stated ideal.

Yes in that statistically you would probably be fine, over a million Brazilian tourists come to the US every year.

No in that it is much less safe to visit today then it was a year ago, and authorities will specifically be targeting people who look South American.

If you closely follow the rules of the visa you're using and you don't do anything to stand out, as in you just have a normal-looking tourist itinerary, then you'll probably be fine. If it's just a vacation I would probably pick somewhere else this year though.

I get put in secondary almost every time and it is pretty much always jam packed with sad people, although I am usually the only English speaker so I have trouble finding out what happened exactly. Sometimes they sit in chairs next to me, other times in immigration holding cell next to me. The incidence rate of something traumatizing happening has to be closer to 1+%

The travel warning that the UK issued basically said "follow the rules when trying to enter the USA" which is kind of common sense anyway...

  You should comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry. The authorities in the US set and enforce entry rules strictly. You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules. If you’re not sure how these requirements apply to you, contact the US Embassy or a consulate in the UK. [1]

A little annoying given the current political climate, but it's not really that big of a deal.

  [1] https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/entry-requirements

Yes and the UK has very strict entry rules of its own, that it is eager and willing to enforce unless you fall into some special category.

Calling this a "warning" is stupid.

If an American tries to enter the UK on the wrong visa, will they be thrown into a for-profit prison?

Or just be turned around?

An American relative of mine had this experience. She was entering the UK legally but the immigration officer decided something was off and they have an absolute right to decline entry. The last flight back to the USA had gone so she was held overnight in a local police station before flying back the next day.

You do at least get your own cell in the UK.

That's unpleasant but flying back on the next available flight is still way better than the Canadian woman who was held for weeks despite begging to pay for her own ticket back to Canada.

The UK situation you describe has clear reasoning. The US system just seems to be throwing people into a black hole without rules.

I don't really care if someone profits off of prisoners, plus they haven't existed federally since 2022; might want to update your rejoinder.

Furthermore, I've had friends who entered the UK on the wrong visa for a degree be shoved into a holding cell then deported. Fortunately they were granted the right one later, but it's standard procedure to enforce your laws.

What about the US makes Europeans and other foreigners think they have a unique right to enter? That's a privilege for US citizens only.

Turning people away is understandable. Putting them in private prisons at taxpayer expense when they're begging to fly home is at best a waste of taxpayer money (from the "fiscal conservative" right?) and at worst a civil rights abuse. Sending Venezuelan asylum seekers to a labor camp in El Salvador is even worse.

> they haven't existed federally since 2022

I think you are misinformed:

> In 2025, CoreCivic announced it would reopen South Texas Family Residential Center, under ICE contract, with capacity to detain up to 2,400 people

> What about the US makes Europeans and other foreigners think they have a unique right to enter? That's a privilege for US citizens only.

Wait, what?

For one thing, there are treaties that guarantee that. Of course, the current administration has already broken quite a few treaties in the first 100 days, so what's one more?

For another thing, that's how science, industry and business work. I've been invited dozens of times to the US either to work with/for a university, to present results at conferences, to work with US companies. Cutting that seems a certain way to ensure the decline of US industry, business and science, and encourage all of this to happen elsewhere, whether it's Europe, China, India, Japan... Of course, that seems to be a common trend with the decisions of said administration, so... maybe that's the goal?

> You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules.

The increased frequency of this is what seems to be new.

Of course a country isn't obliged to let you in. But throwing you into a for-profit prison is much worse than just refusing entry and turning you around.

Why are more people being imprisoned? Is this to meet a quota, to pump up statistics, to impress Trump's base?

If you're not a part of what they're profiling travelers for - the obvious stuff like drug smuggling, bringing copious amounts of money into or out of the country, or other contraband, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Anecdotal evidence is my last trip to go snowboarding in Banff in Alberta Canada. My parents came along because they'd never been to Banff and were excited about seeing the Canadian Rockies. In any case, we land in Alberta and are going through customs. Scary looking dude looks at our passports and asks what we're there for. I say, "snowboarding" my mom says, "site seeing" we immediately shoot each other a look like, "Oh shit, that wasn't good.". Without a blink, border guy told us to move on and keep the line moving.

We both spoke about it and agreed that whatever they were looking for, we clearly did not fit the profile they were screening for.

Just to clarify, parent poster asked about visiting the US but it appears your comment is about visiting Canada. Are you a US citizen that was visiting Canada, or did I misread your comment?

I recommend you don't visit the US, no matter where you are from, unless your life depends on it.

I had a business trip to the US planned, but decided to do it via video instead. I'm not taking the chance.

Very smart.

The problem is not that they have unreasonable rules, but that the implementation is very erratic/volatile/arbitrary right now. Trump orders + a layer of a mix of both Trump fanboys and Trump haters makes it hit or miss whether or not you will have problems or not.

you're just one grumpy border agent away from being treated in an inhuman way. I don't want that risk in my life.

Do you have tattoos? If so probably stay away for now...

Only if they are TdA or MS13 tattoos and the person entered illegally, otherwise, no problem.

Do you know or want this to be the facts? Because the main problem right now is that it's an unknown.

Venezuelan Soccer player, Jerce Reyes Barrios was deported to Cecot prison in El Salvador for having a Real Madrid soccer tattoo.

"none of those who enter the Cecot ever leave on foot"

I found this very surprising, so I went looking for confirmation. Sadly, found it:

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/man-deported-el-salvador-ali...

Did they have due process? No? In that case we have *no idea* what actually happened.