Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March • Hacker News Board

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#421

Post by thesuitonym » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:28 PM UTC

mikepurvis wrote: post #262

thesuitonym wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The fact that this guy is the President means that most Americans were not against it, right? I don't know if that's strictly accurate. United States citizens are some of the most heavily disenfranchised in the western world. Our oligarchs have spent decades making it more difficult to vote, especially for people of color, who overwhelmingly disapprove of the current administration. In some urban areas, it can take…

And yet today's polling still shows a 43% approval rating for this president and administration: https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-approval-rating-now-... As a Canadian who normally travels to the US 3-4 times a year, that tells me everything I need to know about what "most Americans" think.

I'm curious what your definition of "most" is, when a majority of people disapprove.

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#422

Post by FredPret » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:29 PM UTC

davidmurdoch wrote: post #320

throaway1989 wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you just ask what they are referring to instead of bringing out the snarky gotcha comments...

You think I'M snarky?! This isn't Reddit. A good faith interpretation of what they said wouldn't include projecting fear-mongering politics into their meaning.

A good faith interpretation of that comment is that they're curious about the US, and might like to explore, but that the US is expensive.

The monoculture thing came only from you.

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#423

Post by Ekaros » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:29 PM UTC

Also there is big question what is expected out come for being denied entry. Waiting on airport for next open outbound flight? Spending days or weeks in some inhumane facility? Later one doesn't seem reasonable risk to take...

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#424

Post by davidmurdoch » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:32 PM UTC

dfxm12 wrote: post #387

davidmurdoch wrote: post #349

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you honestly think my question about monoculture was directed at their "political climate" comment and not the comment about cost? I did not think their comments implied a connection between the value of being a tourist in the US and a their concerns over politics. Maybe if it were much cheaper they wouldn't care about the politics, but that doesn't seem likely to me.

Yes, but reading over this thread, you've made it clear how you've misinterpreted the post you originally responded to.

How so? The article doesn't mention the value of travel in the US. The comment "It also happens to be ridiculously overpriced for what you get as a tourist" is clearly adding an _another_ reason they (suspect?) tourism declined.

It is followed with "But yes, there is also the political climate.", which I interpreted as an agreement with the reasons in the article -- that the decline was due to the political climate.

How is that a misinterpretation? It seems likely and reasonable that that the "ridiculously overpriced" comment is being stated because they meant it is _additional_ reason for the decline - as it is one not stated in the article.

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#425

Post by adamc » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:33 PM UTC

askonomm wrote: post #293

avalys wrote: post #273

I see all these articles about Canadian and European hate for the US, and anti-US sentiment in general. They all sadden me. The US is made up of 350 million people. Only one of them is Donald Trump. Most of the country didn’t vote for him. We still value our friends and allies, even if the stooge Putin got elected does not.

I mean the rot goes much deeper than Donald Trump. Most of the US cabinet and top leaders are actively hostile towards what used to be ally states. Spreading lies, propaganda, insults and threatening to invade and take away our land. Meanwhile treating its own people like slaves. USA has become almost indistinguishable from Russia in that regard.

The Cabinet was all selected by DJT and approved by a compliant Senate despite historically poor qualifications. It reflects the dynamics of the Republican party, and that they won the election tells you something about America.

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#426

Post by ty6853 » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:35 PM UTC

otikik wrote: post #348

davidmurdoch wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think they were talking about ICE because they mentioned the cost of tourism? I don't think they were referring to risk of detainment with that comment.

It does count for me. The border crossing is the first experience that you get from a country. It has definitely gone worse. And it was not great to begin with. In the past, I had the ... pleasure ... of being put in the "back room" for 3 hours after a long transatlantic flight at SFO. I was not afraid then, just annoyed and tired. I would be afraid now and I would rather avoid it. There's many other places I can cho…

I am still in debt from the last time they took me to the back room, did some kind of x-ray which detected my belt buckle. They declared the belt buckle was actually drugs up my ass, they strip searched me, and they then dragged me to two different hospitals chained and shackled and then sent me the bill when nothing was found. For this, the AUSA issued a retroactive search warrant, signed after they did it.

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#427

Post by orwin » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:36 PM UTC

People of my family are flying in in March. New restrictions are in place for people who visited specific countries. My only advice to fellow Europeans who want to travel to the US is to get issued a new passport and, if you have to, lie on your ESTA if you spent any time in Cuba or in the Middle East since 2011 (Your trips are linked to your passport ID)

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#428

Post by throaway1989 » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:37 PM UTC

davidmurdoch wrote: post #416

throaway1989 wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment is very reddit-esque. "do you think the US is a monoculture?" implying that the commenter does think that, and that that thought is ignorant and absurd. Instead of asking what they are referring to so you can discuss the point they're making. What fear mongering politics? The commenter is obviously talking about the reported cases of people being detained, deported, and harassed for their political views…

> implying that the commenter does think that, and that that thought is ignorant and absurd It is a widely held view of the US by many foreigners; they don't conceptualize how big and diverse the US is. I thought a perfectly reasonable and likely interpretation of their comment is that the later sentence, with the "also" does not connect their `value of being a tourism in the US` comment to the political climate. Oth…

Right, so you are assuming in bad faith, instead of just asking their point and refuting it!

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#429

Post by neogodless » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:38 PM UTC

mikepurvis wrote: post #395

neogodless wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't blame your sentiment, but as part of the 57% that MASSIVELY DISAPPROVES of that nutjob, I don't like the "most" word being used here ;) Try to remember our weird Electoral College, and that ultimately the vote came down to ~230,000 votes in swing states. (I'm in one of them, and I voted against the felon.) Also hate that "mainstream news" like ABC and CBS covered Saturday's protests with the phrase "tens of t…

I'm not going to split hairs over what 43% means, but the point is that we are still in an ecosystem where "Trump supporter" is a viable political stance and very much has a seat at the table of discourse. That state of affairs is utterly unacceptable, and signals that overwhelmingly the country doesn't get it yet. Look at how many Greenlanders like Trump— those are the numbers you need to be pulling at home. Once 80…

Oh I agree. I'm angry that the 77 million people voted for Trump. I'm angry that ~22% of the population got out there and voted and supported Trump. And I'm angry that so much of the eligible voting population did not vote. And I'm angry that he's tearing my country apart from the inside.

And zero judgement of anyone's wise decision to avoid or boycott our country, or arm themselves against us.

Also don't know what to think of polls, but anything above 0% approving of Trump is stupid. It's still not "most", which is my only contention. But whether or not it's most doesn't matter as long as all of our checks and balances have disintegrated, and there's one person in charge and making horrible decisions that hurt many Americans, threaten tourists, and are currently wreaking havoc on the stability of the global economy.

Re: Foreign visits into the U.S. fell off a cliff in March

#430

Post by lawn » Mon, Apr 07, 2025, 2:38 PM UTC

baxtr wrote: post #356

tgv wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People buy lottery tickets knowing very well they are almost certainly not going to win. But you never know. You might get rich. You buy the ticket is the prize is tempting enough. Likewise, you avoid a low probability risk when the outcome is bad enough.

But this is only true if things have changed. That's why I am asking if we know that the number of incidents went up compared to last year or if it was in the same range but without the media coverage.

You assume that being detained is the only thing you're thinking about.

Not wanting to support the US for plunging the whole world into economic turmoil or not wanting to support a country speed running into fascism are other reasons.