Tourists visiting the United States will have their social media profiles vetted before being allowed to enter the country, under proposals set out by the Trump administration.
Those visiting the US for less than 90 days can at present travel on an Esta, a visa-waiver programme for citizens from 42 countries, including the UK. The electronic form costs $40.
Under proposals published by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the US will introduce harsher restrictions for tourists obtaining an Esta. British travellers will be required to submit their social media history for the past five years as part of “mandatory” checks.
Applicants will also be asked to submit other “high value data” that is “feasible” to collect, including telephone numbers from the past five years, the dates and places of birth of family members and any business emails used in the past decade.
In recent days, President Trump has sharpened his attacks on Europeans, calling them “weak people” living in a “decaying” continent, after publication of the national security strategy, which condemned levels of immigration among America’s allies.
The Esta proposals were published on Tuesday as the US, Mexico and Canada prepare to host the World Cup next year. Up to seven million football fans are expected to travel to the US. The head of Trump’s World Cup taskforce has not ruled out immigration raids taking place at stadiums during matches.
A number of Britons have already been caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown. A Welsh woman backpacking through the US and Canada was detained in Seattle this year by US immigration officials and held in a detention facility for 19 days before being deported.
Becky Burke, 28, had documented her trip through Oregon and Washington on Instagram, including her use of Workaway, a homestay scheme where travellers work for five hours a day in exchange for bed and board. While CBP did not comment on her case, the agency said those travelling on an Esta were not allowed to work during their visit, including for bed and board.
Last month Sami Hamdi, 35, a pro-Palestinian activist from London, was arrested in San Francisco and detained for 18 days before being deported. He says he was denied medical care during his detention.
In a clip of Hamdi shared by the Trump administration as justification for his deportation, the campaigner appeared to respond to the October 7 attacks by saying: “How many of you feel it in your hearts when you got the news that it happened? How many of you felt the euphoria?” Hamdi said his remarks had been taken out of context and he had condemned violence elsewhere in the speech.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, said Hamdi was “an illegal alien and terrorist sympathiser who cheered on Hamas following its October 7 terrorist attack”.
Tricia McLaughlin
APOSE LUIS MAGANA/AP
In June, Trump banned citizens of 12 countries from coming to the US: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. He also placed travel restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
The tightening of border restrictions was widely compared to the “Muslim ban” of Trump’s first administration, when citizens of similar countries were blocked from entering the US.
