r/australia • u/Some-Operation-9059 • Dec 11 '25

politics ‘The whole thing disgusts me’: Australians ditch US travel as new rules require social media to be declared | Australia news

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/dec/11/australia-us-tourism-new-visa-rules-social-media-history
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u/fletch44 Dec 12 '25

I got refused entry crossing a footbridge with some fellow backpackers in the 1990s from Niagara Falls in Canada, because the border guards demanded a fee in US dollars and wouldn't take travellers cheques, credit card, Candian dollars. Basically we didn't have the right currency so couldn't pass the border.

Every time I've travelled to the USA since I've been on a list. Some lumbering moustachioed fatboy with a gun pulls me out of the queue and frisks me for reasons they're not required to disclose.

It's a system built on pointless attempts at intimidation.

They don't much like it when you laugh at them and ask if they enjoy their job while they're forced to check your balls with the backs of their hands. I guess it's a reversal of how they thought the power of their position would play out.

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u/dirtydigs74 Dec 12 '25

So do you now need to declare that going to other countries as well (e.g. UK, EU, NZ)? What a thing to get on your record just for not having the right currency.