Donald Trump launches new crackdown to regulate the movement of foreign visitors to the United States. Tourists who want to come to the States with ESTA may have to provide American authorities with their social media history for the last five years, as well as a long list of personal information, such as their email addresses for the last ten years and the place of birth and residence of parents, husband or wife, siblings and children. The inclusion of a “selfie” in the application to request authorization to travel may also become mandatory.
60 days to comment on the provision
The Trump administration’s new proposal was published in the Federal Register, the official American gazette, and it is not certain that it is the definitive one. In fact, the provision will be subject to comments from the public for the next 60 days and it is not excluded that something could change.
Control of social media, Trump’s big obsession
If the measure is approved, social media control – a Trump favorite and already foreseen for H-1B visas – will become a “mandatory” element of the application to obtain the ESTA, which will have to be accompanied by a selfie so as to improve monitoring and allow us to better identify whether the person holding the documents is their legitimate holder.
Italy among the 42 countries involved
There are 42 countries participating in ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization), including Italy, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan. In the current Esta system, the information requested from the traveler is limited and is accompanied by the payment of a commission of 40 dollars.
Football World Cup and fan attendance risk
The provision could come into force in 2026, complicating tourist arrivals for the football World Cup. The risk is to discourage fans with longer waiting times to obtain authorization, and above all exposing them to a greater probability of being signals for more in-depth checks.
The impact on tourism and civil liberties
«The new method involves monitoring the online debate and the possibility of denying the travel permit at discretion, based on what one likes or dislikes regarding the policies in force. It will be interesting to see the impact on tourism numbers,” some legal experts noted. Others, however, have highlighted the risks that this system entails for “civil liberties”, including freedom of expression. Tourist numbers have dropped since Trump took office. It was mostly Canadians who abandoned the States, after the president campaigned for months to make Canada the 51st American state. The United States will be the only country to see a decline in foreign visitor spending this year, the World Travel & Tourism Council estimates.