Medical and security risk management company, International SOS has alerted travellers to the “growing risks” of visiting the United States.
The company warns that with multiple countries – including Canada, the UK, and several in Europe – issuing or updating travel advisories for the United States, travellers “may want to rethink their plans”.
International SOS says heightened scrutiny at US borders, strict enforcement of immigration rules, and complications around gender declarations on travel documents could lead to delays, detentions, or denied entry, even for those with legitimate travel plans.
International SOS’s global head of security, James Robertson, says, “We have seen a growing number of requests for support and general queries recently regarding adverse experiences at US borders, particularly in relation to increased scrutiny by immigration and customs officials.
“Since the implementation of the ‘maximum vetting’ policy by the Trump administration, US border agents have enforced stricter controls, which has included the potential search of phones and personal electronic devices upon entry.”
Robertson said there have been recent incidents involving international students and academics who were detained, and had their visas revoked”.
The US federal government's National Travel and Tourism Office has released preliminary figures showing visits to the US from overseas fell 11.6% in March compared to the same month last year.
The figures did not include arrivals from Canada, which is scheduled to report tourism data later this week, or land crossings from Mexico. But air travel from Mexico dropped 23%.
For the January-March period, 7.1 million visitors entered the U.S. from overseas, 3.3% fewer than during the first three months of 2024.