Tourists are wearing Trump. The end of the “American sleep”
In February 2025, 28-year-old British Rebecca Burke left Seattle and went towards the border with Canada. She was in the US for a month and intended to visit Vancouver. In the United States, she helped at home with her family who agreed to accept her in exchange for a place to sleep. It was not the first time a young woman lived in the country on such conditions. She had similar plans in Canada.
However, at the entrance, the Canadian Border Guard said that Rebecca needs an employee, not a tourist visa. She was sent back to the United States. Burke stayed there detained as an undocumented immigrantshackled and sent to prison, where she spent three weeks. She was one of 32 thousand 809 people arrested by the immigration police (ICE) during the first 50 days of the second term of office of President Donald Trump. The reason for the arrest was that Rebecca allegedly worked in the US, although she stayed in this country on the basis of a tourist visa.
Initially, the officers claimed that Burke would have to spend one or two days in custody – until the next flight home. In fact, she was released only on March 17, after her family contacted the media. She said that she was taken out of prison with chains around the wrists and ankles.
Burke case is not the only example The American authorities' attitude towards foreign tourists in recent months. Germany Lukas Zielaff and Fabian Schmidt spent several weeks in a center for immigrants, despite the fact that Zielaff had a tourist visa, and Schmidt a green card. The reason for the detention of Zilaff was an unintentional mistake in answering the question about the place of residence: during customs clearance the tourist was given by Las Vegas, where he spent his vacation, not Germany, where he intended to return. His girlfriend Jessie Bresche was detained in a detentive center for undocumented immigrants for a month, including eight days in the isolation.
“We thought we all were kidnapped”
The Canadian Jasmine Mooney found herself in the same situation. She was kept in custody for two weeks. She had a visa of Naft, which allows Mexico and Canada citizens to conduct business in the United States. On its basis, a woman could regularly visit this country. However, at the next entrance, the American border guard stated that the visa was not issued correctly. Mooney thought he could go back to Canada and apply for a new visa. Instead, ICE officers arrested her without explanation, took her personal belongings, searched her and placed her in the detention center for undocumented immigrants. She was transferred several times from one prison to another before it was placed on a plane to Canada.
“There were no pillows,” Money recalls. – The room was icy and one blanket was not enough. Around me, the women curled up and covered their heads. It looked as if there were many corpses in the room. (…) It seemed that we were all kidnapped and forced to participate in a perverted psychological experiment, aimed at depriving us of strength and dignity.
In response to the arrests of tourists, the German authorities updated in March 2025. Recommendations for people who intend to visit the United States. They now specify that even an important visa or permission for visa -free entry do not guarantee trouble -free crossing of the border.
Germany, Belgium, Canada, France, Finland, Denmark and Great Britain also warned LGBTQ people. This is due to the “fight against transgender madness” and the official policy of the White House recognizing by Trump only two sexes. According to the new principles, transgender people must provide the sex attributed to the US at the entrance to the USA in their documents. Otherwise, they may not be allowed.
“If you do not come to the United States to join the protest in favor of Hamas or tell us that Hamas is progressing rightly, or to start the conflict on campuses, riots on the streets and destroying our universities, you have nothing to worry about” – assured US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. For many people, the events of recent months were a signal that it is better to avoid traveling to the United States.
They prefer to lose money than to go
The writer Farah Mendelsohn planned to spend a month in Oregon, Seattle and Vancouver to conduct research for a new book. However, due to the detention of foreigners in the USA, she gave up this idea. She lost over 1 thousand hole. (PLN 3.7 thousand) for hotel reservations and tickets. – Considering my political views, I don't want to go to America and invest in an American economy Mendelsohn explained.
The Swede Johan Bjornsson takes a similar position. He canceled the journey to Miami in 2026, losing $ 650. (PLN 2.4 thousand) deposit for reservations and flights. He made the decision after he watched the video in which Trump and US Vice President JD Vance attack the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelanski in an oval office. “It had nothing to do with politics,” says Bjornsson. – It was an attack in its purest form.
Tourists in Washington
Another common reason for the resignation from traveling to the USA is Rhetoric of Trump and his administration towards other countries. For example, in correspondence on Signal, made public by the editor -in -chief of “The Atlantic” Jeffrey Goldberg, defense secretary Pete HegeSeth answered JD Vance that he shared his disgust to Europe. A little earlier, during the Munich security conference, the vice president accused Europe of “retreat from basic values”. Trump praised Vance's speech and said that Europeans “lose their right to freedom of speech.”
In addition, the president has repeatedly talked about the need to embrace Greenland in recent months. He suggested that Canada should join the United States as 51. In addition, Canada, together with Mexico and China, has become one of the first countries that were in the crosshairs of Trump's trade war.
– We consider the United States to be our best friend – says Jakob Boell from Denmark. “But now we're not just friends who have quarreled.” Now our friend is focused on fighting us.
No sense of security
Former Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called his countrymen to “change plans” and spend their holidays in their own country. Many Canadians did this: according to US data, the average number of people crossing the road border from Canada a day in February was by 15 percent lower than in 2024. The number of reserved flights from Canada to the USA from April to September fell by over 70 percent. compared to last year.
– I'm afraid to get stuck on the border “Especially considering how unpleasant Trump was in relation to Canada,” explains journalist Kate Dingwall. – Visiting America is now dangerous.
The writer and comedian Keith Serry, who had five performances in New York, has the same opinion. – I am aware that this decision will deprive me of the opportunity to share my work with you. But to tell the truth, I don't feel safe now when I travel to the States. Apart from that I don't want my money to contribute to the development of the economy of the enemy country in any way.
In recent years, the tourist industry in the US has experienced a boom. In 2023, the country was visited by 66.3 million foreigners, and in 2024 72.4 million. Last year, foreigners invested $ 2.9 trillion in the American economy. (PLN 10.9 trill). The tourism industry directly or indirectly ensures employment of 15 million Americans. This year, however, the situation may change.
In March 2025, almost 10 percent came to the United States. fewer people than in the same period in 2024 – I have never seen such an inheritance in 30 years of activity For any destination-admits Jean-Francois Rial, head of the French tour operator Voyageurs du Monde. According to the entrepreneur, flight reservations to the United States fell by 20 percent. from the inauguration of Trump. The American agency, which previously forecasted an 8.8 % increase in the tourist sector, has now informed about a probable drop by 5.1 percent.
The soft force of the USA
John Grant, an analyst at OAG, which deals with travel data, suggests that a decrease in flow will not hurt the American economy too much. – Let's not forget that tourism in the USA is mainly national tourism – says the expert. – And if it stays at the same level, the loss of Europeans may not be so significant – he adds. Jean-Francois Rial does not agree with this assessment. – When the United States say that Europeans do not affect the economy, they lie. They say nonsense – he explains.
Thomas Goodwin, the leader of Exhibitions and Conferences Alliance, the Association of Exhibitions and Conference Organizers, suggests that it is not the authorities, but ordinary citizens They are the first to feel the effects of reducing the number of foreigners. – Tourist boycots will harm employees and small companies. They will affect hotels, taxis, restaurants, entertainment places, trade and many other things – he says.
Entrepreneurship expert Neri Karra Sillan believes that the deterioration of the US reputation is much more important. – A decrease in the number of foreigners shows that the United States lose their “soft strength” – the influence they once exerted through openness, cultural leadership and kindness at global level.
The lack of tourists from Europe can be particularly painful next summer, when the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the hosts of the World Football Championships. Danish Jakob Boell assures that he will take part in the tournament only if the representation of his country will not play in the United States.
Neri Karra Sollaman predicts that in the long run a decrease in the number of tourists, caused by the hostile Rhetoric of Trump and aggressive immigration policy, will not only affect the American economy, but also on other areas. – When teachers, scientists, artists, designers and entrepreneurs will start choosing other destinations than the US, the United States will lose more than just foreign tourists – explains the expert. – The country will become less competitive, lose prestige and become a closed society in which everything new is suppressed.
