Immediately after Donald Trump began his second term in the White House in January 2025 by ramping up his agenda of immigration enforcement and deportations, stories of tourists getting caught up in an anti-immigrant agenda began to emerge and multiple countries put out travel warning for their citizens.
Some of the countries to change and strengthen their advisories for the U.S. since 2025 include Canada, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Finland, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
“Even a slight overstay of the visa upon entry or exit can lead to arrest, detention, and deportation upon entry or exit,” the latter country’s Foreign Ministry wrote in its website in a section that previously had generic wording around respecting the laws of the country one is coming into.
“An elevated risk of politically motivated violence”: German Foreign Ministry to citizens coming to the U.S.
A year-and-a-half later, Germany has once again updated its travel advisory for U.S.-bound travelers. While the official rating remains unchanged at “exercise increased caution” (the U.S. State Department has the equivalent level two rating for Germany and several other European countries with large global capitals), new sections focus on the risk of terrorist attacks and political violence as well as immigration enforcement.
“In recent years, a steady decline in violent crime — particularly serious violent crime, has been observed in major American cities, although the overall burden of violent crime remains higher than in major German cities,” the crime section reads in translation from German. “Furthermore, there continues to be an elevated risk of politically motivated violence.”
Related: Another country tells citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the U.S.
A separate section on entry and visa requirements states the current administration’s focus on immigration enforcement and urges closely monitoring the dates permitted by one’s visa to not end up in a situation in which one ends up accidentally overstaying even by a few days or otherwise unknowingly running afoul of visa conditions.
Germany tells travelers who overstayed visa to leave “before U.S. authorities take action”
“Do not overstay your authorized period of stay,” the section on customs and immigration reads. “Depart voluntarily if you have overstayed your authorized period of stay, and do so before U.S. authorities take action. This is generally possible without penalty, provided there are no other offenses involved; otherwise, you risk arrest and deportation.”
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Under the current administration, international travel to the U.S. fell by more than four million visitors, from 72.3 million in 2024 to 68.3 million in 2025, by the time the full numbers for the year were calculated.
A similar 5.5% drop was observed in the first months of 2026 while, on the German side specifically, the number of international tourists coming into the U.S. has been down 13% compared to last year, even amid major events like the FIFA World Cup during the 2026 summer. The decline in tourism has hit regions and cities that rely on it, such as Las Vegas and many cities in Florida, particularly hard.
One report from research firm Tourism Economics calculated that this type of decrease resulted in the loss of approximately $18 billion for tourism in the U.S.
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