Countless nations have increased their customs requirements as the freedom of movement slowly becomes restricted. The European Union now requires ETIAS for entry. The United Kingdom now requires an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). The United States has recently made headlines for enforcing stricter border patrol, but the stories are extremely misleading and intended to paint the United States as increasingly authoritarian under the Trump Administration.
The US Embassy in Tokyo announced that Japanese individuals applying for a DS-160 or nonimmigrant visa may need to submit their social media accounts. Travelers may be asked to submit any form of social media they’ve used during the past five years. The US government can deny entry to anyone who fails to comply with the requirements. This has produced misleading reports that the US government is specifically targeting Japanese travelers, but the government has the authority to search anyone from any nation, including US citizens.
The US Department of State (DOS) and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began conducting limited social media account reviews for visa applicants and immigrants in 2019, although these searches are rare. Border Patrol has the right to inspect the electronic devices of any traveler. However, this was not a requirement for entry.
“We are looking solely for social media identifiers. Consular officers will not request user passwords. The information will be used, as all information provided during a visa interview and on the visa application, to determine if the applicant is eligible for a visa under existing U.S. law. Collecting this additional information from visa applicants will strengthen our process for vetting applicants and confirming their identity,” the FAQ’s on the updated 2019 guidelines stated. “Consular officers cannot deny visas based on applicants’ race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, political views, gender, or sexual orientation,” the original guidelines state. One must question whether political views will be ignored in 2025.
“Any traveler entering the U.S. is subject to CBP inspection,” CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham said in a statement to USA TODAY. “CBP follows strict policies and directives when it comes to searching electronic media. These searches are rare, highly regulated, and have been used in identifying and combating serious crimes, including terrorism, smuggling, human trafficking, and visa fraud. Any claims of politically motivated searches are completely unfounded.”
Additionally, the United States is NOT the only nation that can search through social media accounts. The European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) outright asks travelers to submit their social media history. Social media information is now required for visa-free travel authorization under ETIAS. Actual searches at the border are thought to be less common because the governments already have that information.
The Tokyo embassy’s report led to numerous Japanese travelers angrily taking to the internet to claim that they will never travel to the United States, as they are being specifically targeted. It is fake news. The media is keen to run any story regarding travelers turned away at the US border, but nearly all of those cases are the result of improper documentation. We never hear stories of Americans turned away at foreign borders, but it happens every day. You cannot enter a foreign nation without proper documentation — end of story. Legacy media is attempting to mislead the world into believing the United States is a dangerous nation under a fascist dictator who is eager to deport anyone without a red MAGA hat to El Salvador. It is all absolute nonsense. There should be far more concern regarding the new ETIAS and ETA programs if anything.
