If this is in reference to the French scientist that was denied entry, that was fake news:
"The French researcher in question was in possession of confidential information on his electronic device from Los Alamos National Laboratory— in violation of a non-disclosure agreement—something he admitted to taking without permission and attempted to conceal.
Any claim that his removal was based on political beliefs is blatantly false."
That said you better make sure your "papers" are good. Instead of just putting you on the plane and sending you back home, there have been many recent cases of tourists handcuffed and sent to ICE facilities for a couple of days up to a couple of weeks. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/04/12/ice-to...
There's an huge amount of entitlement from people coming to the US, as if their presence is a gift and they're owed entry uncontested. For decades at this rate everyone just walked all over US customs and immigration. Now that the US is enforcing immigration laws to similar levels as South Korea, Japan, Israel, Switzerland, Vietnam, etc. people are clutching their pearls. Sorry, refils are no longer free. You're not owed free refils because that's how it use to be.
- held for an indefinite time without due process and information what you did wrong
- stripped naked and spilled with cold water
- potentially worse, but that depends entirely on the way things are developing on a day-by-day basis
And if someone thinks that won't happen to them because they come from a western country and have a low eumelanin pigmentation level, recent examples show that this does not matter¹. Remember ICE also appears to want to police "illegal ideas" at the border now².
These arbitrary arrests, a disregard for the Rule of Law and the valuation of loyalty to the cause over predictable consequences fit the despotic style that is encouraged in the US from the top down lately. The world would be wise not continue betting all their cards on a crazy horse.
Yeah, but there is a dark number of cases that don't make it to the media, e.g. I just read by a guy who had a 15k$ cruise ship trip booked from the US and was rejected at the border because they found his flight stop "unusual" he came from Australia and had a stopover in Asia because that was the cheapest flight. He wasn't imprisoned without any legal process, but the number of people rejected without cause ought to be much higher than the number of people who will be detained.
I grew up in a tourism country and the number one rule of tourism is that if you want people to come hospitality goes a long way. A mad-king-leader calling them freeloaders and quoting Napoleon with "He who saves his country, violates no law" and a cult like followership doesn't exactly instill confidence that your rights will be respected when you go there.
The current administration seems to be downright hostile to everybody who isn't a US citizen even if we'd just come to spend our money in the US. Pair that with a lack of basic oversight over your cops/TSA-agents/whatever and suddenly the US just isn't as attractive any more.
Don't get me wrong, I find the US fascinating, but given I am in the middle of Europe, I have many destinations with a friendlier atmosphere and a more reliable political leadership to chose from.