Should ALL Immigrants Avoid Traveling Right Now?

Is it safe for legal immigrants to travel internationally right now?

We're starting to hear more and more stories about both green card holders and legal visa holders getting trouble and being stopped at the border these days, and some are even being deported back to their home country or detained. So if you're an immigrant living inside the United States, is it safe for you to travel or could it put your immigration status at risk?

In this post, I will explain who is being targeted at the border and what you need to know before making any travel plans.

What is Happening at the Border?

So what is actually happening at the border and who is being stopped or detained?

It's not just for undocumented persons anymore. Even immigrants with green cards, work visas, or advance parole are being stopped at the border. Whether or not they're flying through an airport or coming in through a land entry by CBP or Customs and Border Protection, and in some cases, they're being told that they cannot return to the US.

One woman, Llewellyn Dixon, had had her green card for over 50 years. She was stopped after coming back from a trip from the Philippines and is still being held as of the date of this recording. Her family believes that it may be connected to an old embezzlement conviction from 2001.

Another case is Fabian Schmidt, a green card holder from Germany. He was detained after a trip to Luxembourg and even though his past charges, a DUI, and a minor possession of marijuana were resolved years ago, he is now in removal proceedings. This is happening to visa holders as well.

Take Rasha, a doctor from Lebanon. She had a valid H-1B visa but was deported because CBP officers found pictures on her phone of a funeral of a Hezbollah leader. Even after a judge ordered for her deportation to be delayed, they went ahead and removed her from the US anyway.

And there's Jasmine Mooney, a Canadian TV actress. She was stopped after trying to go through a routine TN visa renewal process at the border. She discovered that her previous visa had been revoked because the company that she worked for had used hemp in their products.

But instead of just being sent home, she was detained in a detention facility for two weeks, moved between detention centers, and then deported, all without any sort of formal criminal charge.

Why is this Happening?

So why are legal immigrants, both with green cards and with legal work visas, being stopped, detained, and deported? It all started with an executive order signed by Trump called "Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats."

It tells immigration officers to apply maximum vetting to enter the United States, even to immigrants who have lived here for years. This type of vetting is not new, but the way that it is being now used is much more aggressive.

People who used to travel with no issues are now all of a sudden being detained, stopped for hours, and being treated like potential threats as they try to reenter the country they have been living in. I made a video explaining this about eight months ago when Trump released his campaign platform. It said that he wanted to remove immigrants who don't "love America."

He made it very clear that he would block anyone who doesn't share his values, using words like "Christian-hating communists," "Marxists," "socialists," and "jihadist sympathizers." He also emphasized that he was going to prioritize removing anyone with a criminal record and he said he wants to move the U.S. to a merit-based immigration system, implying that he doesn't want to accept immigrants who might use public assistance.

And now, he's preparing to bring back the travel ban, which as of this recording, hasn't yet happened. But it is baked into that same executive order and is expected to be announced soon. Reports say that it could apply to up to 43 countries, affecting more than 20% of all immigrant visas to the United States.

So Trump is trying to block immigrants who don't share his values, anyone who isn't rich enough, people with any kind of a criminal record, no matter how minor, and people from countries that he doesn't deem to be good and one of the fastest ways to target people and carry this out is by stopping people at the border, before they can even enter.

So now that we know what is happening, is this legal?

Is this Legal?

The short answer is, yes, it may be legal.

Customs and border protection has some of the most broad reaching and strongest authorities in immigration law, especially as it pertains to border protection.

Under Section 235 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, CBP officers can question you under oath, search your personal belongings or phone, send you to secondary inspection, and decide if you are to be allowed in, or if your case should be referred to an immigration judge.

Under Section 287, they can also arrest you without a warrant if they believe that you broke the immigration law and that you might flee. So yes, CBP is acting within its scope of power, but this administration is pushing them to use that power as aggressively as possible. They're stretching the limits of what's allowed, so much so that other countries have definitely taken notice.

Five countries, Germany, the UK, Denmark, Finland, and New Zealand, have all issued travel advisories to the US, saying that even travelers with valid visas could be detained, questioned, or turned away with no warning and when other governments are warning their citizens to think twice before coming here, it shows how much things have changed, and just how much power CBP now uses at the border.

Should You Travel?

So should you travel internationally right now if you are not a US citizen? It depends. Right now, many immigration attorneys are urging people to be careful, including myself. Even if you have traveled before with no issues, even if your visa is valid, and even if you have had your green card for decades, because the rules are being enforced differently now.

So before you leave the country, ask yourself these four questions:

1. Have I been outside the US for more than six months recently?
2. Do I have any past arrests or immigration issues, even if they were resolved?
3. Am I from, or am I planning to visit a country that can potentially be on the travel ban list?
4. If I were to be stuck abroad for six months to a year or more, would that negatively impact my life?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then it might be safer to wait to travel. We're only now starting to hear these stories, and the new travel ban can be announced at any time. So you can wait and see how the rules are being enforced before you book your flight and in case you didn't hear, Trump is not just targeting green card holders at the border, he's targeting them inside the US as well.

In my latest video, I explain how green card holders are being detained here in the US, and who's most likely to be at risk. So if you have a green card or plan on applying for one, you don't want to miss it. Click the link to watch this video and I'll see you there.