New Rules
The Customs and Border Protection Division (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security has proposed new rules for examining visitors to the United States – all visitors to the United States. Folks coming here would be REQUIRED to share five years of their social media history. Want to come to the US: Disney World, Las Vegas, the World Cup Soccer matches, the 2028 Olympic Summer Games? Avoid the line, and type your name and passwords into an “app” before you leave home. Or, be prepared to hand your passport, your phone and your passwords to a CBP agent at the border, and wait.
What were you saying five years ago? It was 2020, “Covid Christmas”; “Zooming” with our family and friends over traditional dinners held in separate locations. Many of us had colorful masks to match our holiday apparel. And it was a month before the inauguration of Joe Biden as President of the United States. It was only a few days before Trump invited his supported to come to Washington on January 6th for a “wild time”. Many of us weren’t sure what would happen.
Now, CBP isn’t proposing this rule for returning American citizens (though they can “explore” your phone on re-entry). But what were folks from Europe, Asia and Africa saying about the US in the last five years, the years of our intense political turmoil? And what will be the “criteria” to determine denial of entry? If you were a “pro-masker or anti-masker” in 2020? Were you concerned about the state of the American democracy? Did you think that the decimation of USAID by Elon and the DOGE boys was disgusting and immoral?
The App
And how do you actually go about “sharing” five years of social media history? Do tourists have to come with “books” of printed out Facebook, Telegram, Instagram and Reddit posts? What about Tik-Tok and You-Tube, do they have to find a way to share all their videos as well? There must be an “AI” answer to that, some application that will scrub names and passwords through years of material. I bet a simple key-word search works: Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Taliban, ANTIFA, 50501, Democrat. I’m sure Peter Thiel’s Palantir company has already sold it to Homeland Security and is ready to install it nationwide.
Months ago, Americans traveling abroad were advised to get “burner phones”, without any connection to their social media, to travel abroad. That was just to avoid the “inspection” at the borders by US authorities. Ultimately, US citizens do have the right to re-enter, but CBP could make it difficult.
Many will say that this is “just fine”. If you want to visit the United States, you should be willing to “pay the price”, and open up your life to investigation. After all, we don’t want “international terrorists” coming in!! Of course, real “international terrorists” probably don’t have accessible social media histories revealing their inner-most thoughts. Sure, this process might snag a few dumb terrorists. But at what cost?
The Price
About half of the United States already doesn’t trust Homeland Security to act in the interest of, well, homeland security (Gallup). Nearly half of Americans see CBP, and ICE, and the more mysterious HSI, as extensions of the Trump Administration political operation. If half of “us” don’t trust them, what do you think foreign tourists coming to the US think?
Foreign tourists spent around $250 Billion in the US in 2024. That number is already down, almost by half. Canadian tourism has dropped in reaction to Trump policies, including tariffs. There are other beaches, places to gamble, and even Disney Worlds, in the world. And while there’s no Yosemite National Park anywhere else, the US has already jacked the entry price for foreign tourists ($200 fee per person at the entry gate!!). So, beyond all of the concerns about “politics”, there is a real economic impact of reducing tourism.
The Host
What kind of “host” are we? Two major world sports events are scheduled in the next three years: the World Cup soccer finals in New Jersey, and the Olympics in Los Angeles. It’s not just the tourists: the players and coaches and all of the management officials will be subject to the same scrutiny. Inevitably, there will be some conflict with the “search program”: will the US serve as host, or filter? Is it too late to move the events somewhere more inviting?
Final point: this is a “recommendation”, put up for a sixty day review. At the moment, the CBP does not analyze all of this. But if there’s no outcry, no complaint, then, like the actions of ICE towards migrants in the US today, where do we draw the line? And if moral implications aren’t your concern, what about the economic impact? How far are we willing to “tank” the US economy for Trump’s billionaire friends (like Peter Thiel)?
What does this proposed rule say to tourists to America? We don’t trust, you, and we don’t want you.
America is saying, “shut the front door”.
