I get the impression that this report in the press is vastly overstated and probably written by a democrat.
Had I planned to visit America it would not make me even consider changing my plans.
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You can only bang on for so long,
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Alrighty, let’s go back to that then.
Let’s just look at the northern and southern borders without even considering the fun folks who have come in on student visas, work visas, or other means of entry.
Let’s look at Cato’s, Congress’s, and HS’s stats:
In under five years, there have been at the low end, 120K known documented terrorists or watchlist potential terrorists who have attempted to enter the nation illegally (by comparison there are 180K military members in the UK) - that’s the known ones, mind you - and another 500K that escaped without screening whatsoever. Now add the 14M undocumented people who have entered the nation that were only minimally screened and home-grown radicals, and no other nation compares.
Between '22 and '24, violent extremists have conducted three fatal attacks resulting in 21 deaths, and known and known watchlist terrorists have crossed or attempted to cross from nations such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Tajikistan (ISIS ties), Turkmenistan (ISIS-K), and several African, South American, and Central American countries that support (or don’t curb) radical, violent ideologies.
My takeaway is spot on, If anything, underestimated.
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It would me, nosey bastewards 
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Well, shoot. I already had the flowers picked for the dinner table. 
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I made up my mind a decade or two ago not to go to the US.
How would they be able to check the accuracy of the information you give them, given the widespread use of aliases and nicknames used online? Old style forum posts won’t be saved anywhere as many have folded years ago. Presumably it’s the main social media companies they would be interested in.
This is yet another reason never to store information on the cloud. It seems most businesses are now relying on it.
Again when it comes to family members, however would they check?
Biometric information - would they want everyone’s DNA? I guess this is where doing one of those online DNA tests is fulfilling all the prophesies of those who have been so reluctant to use those services.
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One question for Surfermum. Have you ever been to the UK or other European countries ?
As far a Europe goes, I have not been to the UK, but I have been to six EU countries, as well as Turkey (European and Asian), and extensively to Russia, which required extensive background checks and apostilles for visa documentation (and oof, what a process that was). I’ve also walked through the visa process in other countries. Why do you ask?
Right?
The social side of a background check on a person’s technology is deeply flawed. It’s strange to me that both the UK and US plan to relay on questionnaires for accurate disclosure in their proposed new changes. However, anyone on the internet surely understands by now that whatever information they put out there is public and therefore fair game, so we have already tangentially yielded our social media activity to anyone who wants it.
I have preached to my children about restraint when they post publicly and believe that is sound advice for most anyone. Good software and ten minutes could reveal quite a lot on people who have a sizable online presence. From what we are reading over here, those in the UK have made the news for being subject to those types of searches.
On that note and I definitely do not want to offend here; but these speech and privacy questions have me wondering:
This whole subject of social media background information is somewhat confusing when it comes to the UK. We are reading over here that those in the UK are under a fair amount of scrutiny for what they are saying on social media, with arrests and prosecutions for some. Yet here we are with offense to having that social media reviewed when entering the U.S. I realize this is opening a can of worms, but why would a nation allow rigorous governmental scrutiny of social media at home and yet get upset about similar review when traveling to another nation? Am I misunderstanding this situation somehow? Or is this about disclosing information that is not readily available online? Or is there a division over whether the public feels that these publicized arrests resulting from social media investigations are legal? One thing I can tell you is that public opinion in the US that the UK government may be overstepping (what should be) free speech rights suggest that mandatory disclosure of social media history that is not readily available through public searches is not likely to fly with most Americans.
You all know that while the US is proposing changes, the UK and EU are already, or just about to implement more rigorous screening via the UK’s ETA and the EU’s more rigorous Q4 2026 ETIAs, which impose background checks on Americans and citizens of forty some odd other non-visa-required nations? Friendly nations have been trying to balance national security needs with the global public’s desire to travel with ease for some time and it’s shame to throw a small wrench into traveling, but I think these checks (save the social media disclosures) are probably wise. We are a little behind on the EU in imposing new requirements, and I expect the UK will soon include even more rigorous background checks.
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I would imagine foxy that, like me, you don’t subscribe to the usual twitface or x or y or whatever it’s called, still, I’ve never been abroad so why would I start now…?
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Good for you Primus1, there would be far fewer problems in the world if people didn’t go abroad.
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Canada is a nice place.
Will have to Google it.
I don’t think anyone here is happy with the litigation of individuals for social media comments made in the heat of the moment. My feeling is that many ordinary people are starting to abandon social media these days. This is just at the time that our government is embracing tech and pushing us to be totally reliant on AI and online systems, quietly rolling out facial recognition, removing cash options, etc.
The US changes affect people who would have just hopped on a plane in the past and maybe filled in a piece of paper on the plane. You might expect it elsewhere but the US prides itself on being “the land of the free”.
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Surfermum
I had no problems visiting Russia a couple of times, maybe because it is because you come from the USA.
The reason I asked is because president Trump has altered foreigners opinion of visiting the USA, You would notice this if you had been recently to the UK.
Being arrested at an Airport, put in prison or deported, for no reason is enough to put anyone off, let alone the gun crime that goes on in the USA.
Now add a 5 year investigation into ones internet connections and financial position ,and even worse relatives who have no intention of visiting the USA , shows signs of a President with mental problems. He has a fixation of keeping the USA safe from any outside influence, and his wild demands will put anyone wanting to go to the USA change their minds.
It is such a shame because on my visits to the USA in the past was well worth going and the people so friendly. Would I go now? NO. would I go to Canada given the chance ? Yes
It is going to be many years before the situation goes back to how it was, if ever.
So no overseas visitors or lot less will impact on so many businesses, not only in hospitality but far reaching services in ancillary support as well. Billions of dollars lost due to lack of overseas visitors.
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I’m in full agreement and in the past I’ve visited the US many times - sometimes many times in one year alone. But the key aspect of this change in desire to go to the US in so many Europeans is not the claim of threats of terrorist events happening whilst visiting. It is the perceived threat from the US authorities. Trump’s excessive efforts to lock down the US (actually it is as much about denying entry to people who criticize him) has created a perspective that simply attempting entry to the US is unsafe. No-one thinks its that dangerous once you get there - except for all the (local citizen) idiots who walk / drive around armed to the teeth.
So my above assessment becomes interesting in contrast to this perspective. Few outside the US think there is a high risk of terrorism affecting them if visiting the US. Overall, there is some risk of terrorism there but compared to many (most?) other countries it is low. So the efforts to stop terrorism there appear disproportionate and appear to be acting against the economic interests of the country.
Achieving zero risk of terrorism is impossible. That unfortunately is the fact. No surveillance, no policing, no checks, no intelligence, no restrictions are ever so complete and so accurate that the risk goes to zero. But worse, the more rigorous these things are, the greater the negative impact on the people and the economy of the country. Therefore it is a question of what controls / monitoring is effective whilst not inhibiting the way the country runs and the freedoms & privacy of its people (and visitors). For me, based on the evidence above, the US is getting this balance wrong.
This is not a new thing. I didn’t notice it so much on my first trip in the late 80s, although it was a culture shock to be in a country that shared our language but had such different rules and culture. Being barked at in customs to “stay behind the line” which was drawn on the floor. Also public loo doors at the airport so short that you could practically see what people were doing!
It was very evident last time I was there just over 20 years back that things had changed. Perhaps this was because it was about a year after 9/11. Everyone was plumper, driving small Japanese cars and restaurant meals were the size of a mountain. We did a road trip across the US and it did feel far more monitored even then. We were stopped on a freeway somewhere in the mid West for no other reason than the police officer wanting to know who was driving there late at night. Friends said there were cameras everywhere. A ton of questions were asked at the airport going into the country. What I noticed was the reluctance to criticise the US, the emphasis on patriotism and the flag, zero criticism of the government.
On both trips outside NY, there also seemed a culture of deliberate ignorance within some communities. Little access to newspapers (this was pre social media). I remember a young less well to do friend of a friend being so excited to meet someone from England and asking so many questions about British music and culture. Before the internet there was no source of such information to be found except perhaps on cable channels if you had them.
I haven’t been there since but US friends do seem to be heavily influenced by social media and I’m sure AI will be a great tool to ensure everyone stays a good citizen.
I think much of the arguments on the forum are to do with most posters not liking Donald Trump anyway, and just use that hatred to criticise anything he does. If he gave every American $1000, posters on here would think that there was an ulterior motive, anything to stick the knife in. I think most of the things he has instigated are good for the American people, and it 's like us leaving the EU, it might cost money now, but in the long term it’s the right thing to do and will make our countries more independent and create wealth and jobs. It’s not good to buy everything in from other faraway lands while your own workforce stands idle with people losing their skills. It’s not good for the environment shipping stuff thousands of miles, and it’s not good for communities if there is no work…Idle hands and all that.
I wish our government would be more careful with the people coming here, either legal or illegal. They should take a leaf out of Donalds book. We wouldn’t need half the cameras and security if people were properly scrutinised when entering the UK.
Since Swimmy left boarder control it’s just gone to the dogs…
Seems to me Foxy, folks are trying to create “Global Isolationism”
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It’s a fine line between keeping your own country safe and in work, and total isolation Spitty.
You wouldn’t allow every person who passed by your house to come in and go through your cupboards would you…? And there is a limit to how many people could actually comfortably fit into your house.