Patriot Brief
- What Happened: CBP wants visa-free travelers to submit five years of social media history and other personal data on ESTA forms.
- Why It Matters: This dramatically expands screening for tourists from allied nations, adding new layers of digital and biometric vetting.
- Bottom Line: The proposal is open for public comment, but if approved, travel to the U.S. will require far more personal disclosure than ever before.
Foreign tourists who once breezed through U.S. entry under the Visa Waiver Program may soon face a very different reality. A new proposal from U.S. Customs and Border Protection would require these travelers to hand over five years of their social media history before setting foot in the United States.
The plan, published this week in the Federal Register, stems from President Trump’s day-one directive to strengthen vetting “to the maximum degree possible.” Unlike past immigration crackdowns focused on long-term visas, this one targets short-term visitors from countries like Australia, the U.K., Israel, Spain, Japan and more — all of which normally skip the traditional visa process.
Under the proposal, anyone applying for an ESTA, the electronic authorization required for visa-free travel, would need to provide their social media identifiers from the past five years. ESTA costs $40 and is typically valid for two years, but applicants would now face deeper scrutiny as part of the security process.
This comes after similar moves aimed at foreign students, where the State Department encouraged applicants to set their social media profiles to public for “comprehensive vetting.” Digital rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation slammed that requirement, claiming it exposed students to unnecessary privacy risks.
CBP’s proposal goes further. In addition to social media, applicants may soon have to provide telephone numbers and IP addresses from the last five years, email addresses from the last ten years, metadata from uploaded photos, and expanded biometric information including face, fingerprints, DNA and iris scans. All applicants would also be required to use a mobile app to take a selfie for verification.
The rule is now open for 60 days of public comment. If adopted, it would represent one of the most extensive screening expansions ever imposed on visa-free travelers — and a major shift in U.S. border policy under Trump’s push for stronger national security controls.
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