[joezydeco]

You can't rule out the horror stories of foreign travelers being harassed and abused at US border checkpoints.

I'm inclined to think it's had a chilling effect when tourists are making their holiday choices. It's pretty easy to skip the USA and find another destination.

[coldtea]

We've been hearing those stories way more in the Bush era when that became a thing, and even in the Obama era, with various TSA related news (several harassment stories have been posted on HN over the years too) -- and yet even during Bush's years arrivals year rising (click: "max" to see from 2000 or so):

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals

If anything, despite some stagnation, the trend is more or less the same and still rising in 2017 and 2018 (click "5 years"):

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/tourist-arrivals