Featured Image Credit: Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
There are hidden reasons why your visit to the US might end up being cancelled after travel into the States from 75 countries has been banned.
This comes after President Donald Trump has cracked down on tourists and long-term visitors entering the country.
This week, the State Department shared that it had revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump had returned to office in January 2025.
This included 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialized visas.
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And the issues for people traveling into the US doesn’t stop there as people have reported experiencing problems with their ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) which enables tourists to visit the States for a vacation.
The ESTA works as a pre-screening system completed online to enable people to travel to the US for 90 days or less.
However, obtaining an ESTA does not necessarily guarantee that you will be granted entry when you reach the US border.
Many people have taken to social media to share their own experiences with the ESTA, with one user writing on Reddit: “I’ve gotten an ESTA this last September with my EU passport in order to travel to the US after some years not having been there. I traveled to New York for three weeks, went back to my home country, then came back in December to visit Miami for a week - both trips for actual tourism and nothing else. Upon entering MIA I got pulled aside and asked some questions in the immigration office (about my job, who I was visiting, etc) and was allowed to enter.
“So today I receive an email from the DHS saying my ESTA status has been "changed", and when I check the application, it shows I’m no longer authorized to travel to the US.
“I’m just trying to understand what's happening here - both times I've traveled I've stayed the exact amount of days I had specified, I'm not tied to any political or criminal organizations/individuals anywhere and I don't speak publicly on my political views. Never heard of ESTA cancellations before. Anyone else this is happening to?”
Another said: “A friend of mine had her ESTA revoked after traveling to Cuba.”
A third person commented: “Baffling that you would still travel to the US. Or even risk it. With the thousands of people being locked up and sent to countries all over the world? They’re locking up whoever the hell they want, white black brown doesn’t matter. You should honestly educate yourself, I’m sure your country has a travel advisory posted. But anyone visiting the US at this point that gets locked up is willfully ignorant ‘it could never happen to me’.”
And a fourth added: “Consider yourself lucky Save you time and hassle no need to come to the us tons of better places , cheaper, more welcoming.”
