As part of a broader tightening of U.S. border controls, the Trump administration is weighing new entry requirements for travellers from certain visa-exempt countries, including a proposal that would require applicants to disclose up to five years of social media history.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has put the proposal forward for a 60-day public comment period. If adopted, the changes would apply to visitors from dozens of countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which allows short-term travel to the United States without a traditional visa.
Earlier this month, the administration also paused immigration applications from 19 countries it has labelled “high-risk,” underscoring a broader push to increase scrutiny of foreign nationals entering the U.S.
The proposed rules would apply to travellers from more than three dozen countries that use the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), including close U.S. allies such as Australia, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Israel and the United Kingdom.
Under the VWP, citizens of these countries can visit the U.S. for up to 90 days for tourism or business without a visa. The program has traditionally been reserved for countries considered lower risk, based on low rates of overstaying and strong information-sharing agreements with U.S. law-enforcement agencies.
Travellers from VWP countries must currently complete an online ESTA application before boarding a flight, ship or crossing a land border. Approved applications are generally valid for two years.
CBP is proposing to phase out the current ESTA website and replace it with a mobile app. Under the new system, travellers would be asked to provide significantly more personal data, including five years of social media history, email addresses used over the past decade, phone numbers used in the past five years, and detailed information about immediate family members, including addresses and phone numbers.
Buffalo-based immigration lawyer Rosanna Berardi said the scope of the proposed data collection represents a major shift. She argued it runs counter to the original purpose of ESTA, which was designed to streamline travel for low-risk visitors.
CBP has not yet explained how travellers would be required to submit their social media histories or which platforms would be included.
Legal experts say it remains unclear how the information would be assessed, but existing U.S. policies offer some clues. Berardi said border officials would likely be scanning for signs of anti-American sentiment or links to groups deemed hostile to U.S. interests.
Brian Hunt, an immigration lawyer with the U.S. firm Fragomen, said artificial intelligence tools would likely be used to analyze social media accounts for specific keywords or themes. He noted that U.S. immigration authorities already review online activity for indications of support for terrorism, antisemitic violence or other extremist views when assessing applications for immigration benefits.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, for example, currently considers whether applicants have “endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused” terrorist or anti-American ideologies.
According to Hunt, criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump on social media should not, on its own, be grounds for denial of entry. He said there is no legal basis for refusing entry solely because a traveller has expressed political opinions critical of the administration.
While border officials do have some discretion, Hunt said any denial must be grounded in law and supported by a legitimate reason that would withstand scrutiny by the courts.
Berardi cautioned, however, that foreign nationals have limited privacy protections when seeking entry to the United States. She noted that constitutional protections such as the First Amendment apply primarily to individuals physically present in the U.S., not to foreign visitors requesting admission at the border.
For most Canadians, the proposed changes would have little to no impact. Berardi said roughly 99.9 per cent of Canadians would not be affected, as Canada is not part of the Visa Waiver Program and Canadians do not use ESTA to visit the U.S.
In most cases, Canadians only need to present a valid passport at the border. Some visa categories used by Canadians, such as investor visas or K-1 fiancé(e) visas, already involve additional screening at U.S. consulates, including personal interviews.
“For the vast majority of Canadians,” Berardi said, “it’s still show your passport and go.”
