Talkin’ that the heat put plants in the bed but the phone’s tapped anyway look out kid don’t matter what you did (2025 travel ban)

This post is about the anticipated 2025 Travel Ban including impacted countries and a discussion about knowing your rights when returning to the United States from a trip abroad.

Although an official travel ban has not yet gone into effect at this time, the ban is expected to be announced and impacts 43 countries, which makes it significantly more expansive and disruptive than the first travel ban in 2017 that impacted thirteen countries.

• The 11 Red countries could face complete visa suspension, meaning no citizens of any listed countries would be able to travel to the United States for any purpose.

• The 10 Orange countries could face potential travel restirictions and more intense application reviews.

• The 22 Yellow countries would be given 60 days to correct any issues this adminstration has found applicable or else potentially be moved to the orange or red categories.

  
  

Given this adminstration's aggressive stance on travel to the United States you should know some basic rights you have when interacting with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at the airport or at a port of entry:

• CBP has been endowed with the power to conduct warentless searches of all belongings and electronic devices (phones, laptops, tablets) of U.S. citizens and non-citizens. Searches of devices are limited to information on the device at the time of the search and not information stored remotely.

• You are not required to share your passwords, however, refusal may result in seizure and refusal of entry for visa holders.

• U.S. citizens may refuse to answer questions beyond identity and travel details, however, this may cause delays. Lawful permanent residents cannot be denied entry but may face additional scrutiny and review of their cases to determine if they are subject to removal. Visa holders may be denied entry if they refuse to answer questions about their trip and visa status.

• To ensure the smoothest encounter with a CBP agent you should be honest and stay calm.

You can read more tips on keeping your electronic information safe here:

Digital security one-pager.pdf

Download PDF • 136KB

Now onto the song, the post's title comes from the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues," from the 1965 album Bringing it All Back Home. I guess I chose this lyric because the song is about a time in American history where people that did not fit the cookie cutter image of being a "desirable" citizen were often tracked and had their phones tapped by the FBI and unfortunatley, this administration seems to be taking us back to that dark time.