Planning to visit the US? Take it from this American citizen don't | Eleanor Limprecht

"My teenagers and I flew over the week of Thanksgiving from Australia, preparing ourselves for long lines and extra questions at customs. It took less than five minutes in the US citizens' line. With the news this week of the Trump administration planning to implement new invasive requirements for travellers from 42 countries, including Australia, that would require five years of social media history for visas, I would simply not travel here on another passport."

"There are plenty of places which welcome visitors without trawling their political opinions and family history. The proposed regulations would require ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) applicants to share their social media for the past five years, email addresses they have used for the past 10 years and phone numbers and addresses of immediate family members. US Citizenship and Immigration Services now consider whether benefit applicants have endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused' anti-American, terrorist or antisemitic views."

"We came, as dual US/Australian citizens, to see family and friends, eat pumpkin pie, stomp through snowdrifts and spend time with my mother on her 78th birthday. To visit the spectacular Australian Indigenous art exhibition The Stars We Do Not See at the Smithsonian National Gallery of Art in Washington DC; Van Gogh, Monet, and Seurat at the Art Institute of Chicago, and eat Chicago-style hotdogs and southern style shrimp and grits."

A dual US/Australian family traveled to the United States for Thanksgiving and family visits, experiencing rapid processing in the US citizens' customs line. Proposed regulations would require ESTA applicants to provide five years of social media history, ten years of email addresses, and contact details for immediate family. USCIS now evaluates whether benefit applicants have endorsed or supported anti-American, terrorist, or antisemitic views. Many travelers without US citizenship would avoid visiting the United States under such invasive screening. The visit included cultural outings to major museums, meals, time with elderly family, and encounters with immigrant-community challenges and anti-ICE messaging.

Read at www.theguardian.com