As the summer travel season approaches, a growing number of U.S. Green Card and visa holders are feeling anxious about leaving the country, following reports of more individuals being detained or refused re-entry at airports and border checkpoints.
While the Trump administration maintains that law-abiding individuals have no reason to fear international travel, immigration experts have expressed concerns that this reassurance might not hold true in practice.
César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, who holds the Gregory Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties at Ohio State University College of Law, told Newsweek, “The Trump administration has given permanent residents and visa holders plenty of reason to worry about running into problems trying to get back into the United States from a trip abroad.” He warned that “anyone who isn’t a U.S. citizen should think hard about the need to leave the United States, especially if they have made statements on social media that are critical of political positions that the Trump administration supports or have had even minimal contact with police.”
Recent incidents have highlighted that individuals holding legal documentation — either Green Cards or valid visas — have faced additional scrutiny or even denial of entry for various reasons. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that in just February and March, more than 320 people were denied entry at New York’s JFK Airport alone.
Is international travel safe for Green Card holders?
According to Shannon Shepherd, chair of the media committee for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), “Overall there’s no guarantee that you’re going to be admitted to the United States, that’s always been the case.” However, she noted, “what we’re seeing lately is more negative exercise of discretion, I guess is the way to put it, where people are being denied entry that we wouldn’t necessarily have been denied before or people being detained instead of just allowed to withdraw their request for entry.”
Shepherd, who also practices with Immigration Attorneys LLP in Chicago, added that AILA fears increased enforcement against Green Card holders as international travel increases. While the government insists that lawful permanent residents and visa holders may leave and return to the U.S. if they have not violated any laws or committed fraud, there is still significant uncertainty.
Hilton Beckham, Assistant Commissioner at CBP, explained the agency’s stance in a statement to Newsweek: “The Trump Administration is enforcing immigration laws—something the previous administration failed to do. Those who violate these laws will be processed, detained, and removed as required. Green card holders who have not broken any U.S. laws, committed application fraud, or failed to apply for a re-entry permit after a long period of travel have nothing to fear about entering and exiting the country.”
Legal experts emphasize the importance of having the proper documentation. Green Card holders must carry a valid passport and their Green Card. If the Green Card is expired, then a USCIS receipt showing that a renewal is pending must accompany the expired card, which temporarily extends its validity. The same rule applies to those with conditional two-year Green Cards obtained through marriage to a U.S. citizen.
Shepherd also warned that even minor past criminal offenses could now be considered grounds for denial of entry, especially when combined with CBP officers’ discretion over social media content and text messages. She recounted the case of a client who had waited years for his Green Card and postponed visiting his parents abroad out of fear he might not be allowed to return to the U.S.
“What we’ve been telling our clients, and it’s hard to say and it’s hard to hear, but it’s [to] really exercise caution and only travel if it’s necessary,” said Shepherd. “What I’ve been saying is check back with me in a month, let’s see if things have calmed down or if it’s been made clearer what is and is not going to be flagged.”
Is international travel safe for visa holders?
For those without Green Cards, the situation can be even more uncertain. Individuals in the process of adjusting their status to lawful permanent residents — through a process called Adjustment of Status (AoS) — typically cannot leave the U.S. without obtaining Advance Parole, a travel document granted by USCIS in advance.
According to CBP, certain categories such as H-1B or L-1 visa holders, as well as V- and K-3/4 nonimmigrant visa holders undergoing AoS, may travel without Advance Parole. However, attorneys strongly recommend consulting with immigration counsel before making any travel plans.
It’s also important to understand that a visa only allows an individual to approach a U.S. port of entry; it doesn’t guarantee admission. CBP agents have full authority to deny entry, even if someone has previously entered the country without issue.
García Hernández pointed out, “The Trump team has adopted an expansive view of the power immigration law gives it to detain, deport, and strip people of legal permission that the government has previously given them to live here.” He emphasized that “even if courts constrain them to some extent, the ordeal of detention and exclusion isn’t something anyone should take lightly. It’s a lot easier to fight off deportation from inside the United States than fight to get back into the United States once outside.”
Scrutiny of digital devices and social media
CBP agents have long had the ability to inspect electronic devices without a warrant at the border. In recent months, however, there have been increased accounts of such searches, even of U.S. citizens.
Tom McBrien, Counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), told Newsweek, “There is a quite small chance of a quite invasive thing happening to you at the border, and there are very few protections for those unlucky people who are subjected to this.”
Though the CBP says only about 0.01 percent of travelers were searched in Fiscal Year 2024, refusing to comply with a search request can result in denial of entry for non-citizens. Officers may start by reviewing camera rolls or messages but can also conduct forensic searches using external tools, which in some regions requires a warrant, though not universally.
McBrien advised travelers to take precautions, such as using a secondary device with minimal data, encrypting sensitive information in cloud storage, and powering off devices before reaching border checkpoints. “If they ask you to provide that pin or passcode if you’re an American citizen, they cannot deny you entry if you refuse to do that. If you are a visa holder, they can deny you,” he said. “But either way, especially if you’re a U.S. citizen, you have to be aware that they can’t deny you entry, but they can seize your phone.”
What to do if detained
If a Green Card or visa holder is pulled aside by CBP upon return, Shepherd advises honesty. “This doesn’t happen so much with green card holders, but with people who have non-immigrant visas or a visitor visa, and they’re coming here to visit their boyfriend or girlfriend, but they say ‘I’m just here to see the Statue of Liberty’ or something and then they find all these text messages to their boyfriend, it’s things like that where if they had just disclosed it in the first place, that might not have been a problem.”
Permanent residents should also keep documentation of their departure and re-entry. Prolonged absences — typically over six months — require additional documentation such as a re-entry permit.
The National Immigration Law Center advises those detained to answer questions and seek legal representation for inquiries not related to immigration status. According to the ACLU, while Green Card holders are not obligated to answer additional questions, declining to do so may delay their entry. Travelers are also encouraged to keep an attorney’s phone number easily accessible.
While some of the advice may seem extreme, Shepherd said it’s a necessary response to heightened enforcement: “There’s a lot of showmanship going on from the government. Hopefully that settles down once they’ve shown the public they’re taking immigration seriously.”