Beware of scare stories on US Immigration

“We have your phone... we know you intend to work in your brother’s restaurant... you have no money otherwise... admit it!”

His voice rising, the US Border Protection officer was becoming increasingly aggravated with the two subjects of his attention in front of him. Turning to the younger man, the officer demanded: “Inform your uncle if he doesn’t tell us the truth he will be in very serious trouble... we have it all on his phone!”

The dejected nephew muttered to the older man, who responded in incomprehensible Hindi (although I have zero linguistic expertise in this identification), but used that universal long-winded tone of all bullshit artists who are being fact-checked in real-time by an authority figure. After what seemed an age, during which microscopic animals in watery pools lived out their entire lifespan of birth, reproduction and death, the nephew sighed deeply and replied to his American interrogator, “My uncle still says he is just going to visit his brother and family in Chicago... for tourism."

The officer snapped and his voice hardened. 

“Right, both of you follow me... now."

He entered the lobby where my wife Kate and I were sitting and turned back towards the room he just left.

"I said now!”

The erstwhile hidden pair of Indian men then emerged - a large, young man sheepishly leading his wary uncle - a lean older man of dark skin and wrinkles, trading unintelligible rushed whispers between them. The group disappeared into back offices and we were left alone in our thoughts again.

Dublin has one of the few airports (along with Shannon) outside North America with a US pre-clearance facility, allowing passengers to complete immigration, customs and security checks before departure. This means travellers arrive in America as domestic passengers, skipping long immigration lines. The officers who oversee this process are US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, American law enforcement agents stationed in Ireland under a bilateral agreement. Their role includes inspecting passports and visas, questioning travellers, conducting security screenings and enforcing US immigration laws to prevent inadmissible passengers from boarding. These officers wield significant de-facto power of admission over would-be travellers to America, as my Indian colleagues were now finding out.

While this system makes Dublin and Shannon airports key gateways for transatlantic flights to the US by streamlining travel, it also poses one important benefit for those who are refused entry by CBP officers - they thus avoid being detained until their return flight is arranged back to whence they came. Instead, as happened to the unfortunate uncle and nephew, they are simply released back into the misty afternoon of a grey Dublin February, to berate each other over who gave the game away.

Joe Biden was US President and we were waiting for our own conversation with a Customs and Border Protection officer, which was intense - if much more productive - compared to the scene from a TV drama we had just overheard. As the obstinate uncle had just found out, a CBP officer could search mobile phones to find the true intent of travellers, which includes reading texts, emails, photos or documents stored on the device. This wasn’t a sudden policy implemented by the new Trump administration.

CBP officers have been granted broad powers because entry into the US is not considered a right for foreign nationals. So they can question travellers extensively, search bags and electronic devices without a warrant and refer individuals for secondary inspection. Officers can refuse entry, cancel visas or ESTA approval - all without the right to a lawyer or appeal.

So, while Donald Trump is true to his pre-election promise in prosecuting the deportation of thousands of illegal and legal-but-undesirable immigrants, many do not realise that under Joe Biden’s administration, deportations increased compared to previous years. In 2024 alone, 271,484 people were sent back home, the highest since 2014. Notably, the number of deported families also surpassed figures from Trump’s first administration.

Yet, social media is awash with examples of a ‘new’ Trump policy of denying travellers from entering the United States. While certain examples are clearly troubling, they do not in and of themselves indicate a sweeping change. A Los Angeles-based Irish woman I know was horrified at Dublin Airport recently to have been subject to questioning of what she had been doing in Ireland, later stating online that as a Green Card holder this had never happened to her before. Her post resulted in many supportive messages condemning this new Trump zeitgeist, until it was pointed out she had actually flown in January BEFORE Trump was inaugurated. The questions themselves were as to be expected, as I have undergone similar questioning at the airport.

In March 2025, American media reported on Canadian actress Jasmine Mooney who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the San Ysidro border crossing while attempting to enter the United States on a work visa. Despite presenting her visa paperwork and a job offer, she was denied entry and spent 12 days in harsh conditions, including overcrowded cells and being shackled during transfers before released back to Canada. 

While undoubtedly a traumatic experience, claims by anti-Trump advocates that it highlights increasingly stringent treatment of foreign nationals at US borders, may be overblown. Mooney’s case is odd in that she entered via the southern border, while her visa backstory seems quite convoluted.

Back in 2013, I was detained at New York harbour by US Immigration after arriving on the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship because my visa documents were not in order even though I never had an issue with them at any US airport previously. I shared a locked room for some hours with an agitated older man who told me several times, ‘this keeps happening to me’ but was silent when I asked why. Eventually, I was let on my way but warned to carry some esoteric document with me in future (I never did, but also I did not blame Barack Obama for my experience).

The Trump administration is obviously engaged in a new programme of deportations and visa refusals. Worried friends of ours tell us that anyone who fled Ukraine to come to the United States on the special ‘Uniting for Ukraine’ visa after Russia’s unprovoked invasion is now retroactively having their eligibility rechecked, including that of their sponsors. Meanwhile, Facebook ‘experts’ are advocating to followers that you can’t be forced by a CBP officer to open your phone using a passcode without a search warrant. Okay... but an officer can decide you are not being cooperative and just deny you entry, so where’s the win?

We should be careful of alarmist ‘the sky is falling’ stories. There is much to be concerned about right now, we do not need overblown distractions.