Trump's 'Temporary' Foreign Visitor Hurdles Return, Again
The Trump administration's reported plan to add 'new hurdles' for foreign visitors, demanding social media history, is framed as a distinct policy shift by Bloomberg. This ignores that the State Department already requires most visa applicants to submit social media identifiers since 2019 . The 'novelty' here is merely the promise of more of the same, a consistent expansion of the surveillance
state under both Republican and Democratic administrations, cloaked in 'national security' rhetoric. These 'temporary' measures often become permanent, eroding privacy and goodwill. It appears the only 'new' hurdle is how many times they can repackage old policies as groundbreaking, demanding ever-increasing scrutiny while simultaneously complaining tourism is down. One might wonder if alienating
visitors with intrusive demands is part of a plan to boost domestic travel—or simply a reflection of a system perfecting its digital panopticon.