Globalised’s Principal US Lawyer, Sherwin Noorian, appeared in multiple ABC News outlets discussing recent news around the risks of travel to the United States under the new Trump Administration and its ‘enhanced vetting’ executive order.
Following reports of some foreign nationals being refused entry or detained in the U.S., media reports on this topic were extensive and foreign nationals, including Australians, have in some cases become concerned or weary of traveling to the US for tourism or business purposes.
Sherwin is experienced with the topic of travel to the US from Australia under the visa waiver program as well as under various types of non-immigrant visas and was invited in April 2025 to provide insights to various ABC News outlets including:
- ABC News 24: appearance on ABC News 24 to discuss travel to the United States, 17 April 2025.
- ABC News online: Immigration lawyers provide advice for Australians facing US border security, 17 Apr 2025.
- ABC Radio National: Number of Australians visiting the US drops, 15 April 2025.
Sherwin has been reminding clients that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have always had plenty of discretion when it comes to turning away Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) travellers. No new statute has changed that reality. The only fresh layer is an executive order requiring some applicants to clear an extra round of “vetting” during the ESTA process.
Phone and laptop inspections fall into the same category: they have been on the books for years. Australian border agents do something similar, so the practice should not surprise anyone. From our vantage point the chance of being refused entry or asked for a device search today looks about where it did twelve months ago with possibly only a marginally higher risk thus far.
Refusals, while unpleasant, have always been part of crossing borders. Globalised Pty Ltd has helped plenty of people who were denied entry for reasons ranging from the understandable to the puzzling. Even so, the vast majority of Australians gets through US immigration without incident.
The biggest problems usually crop up when a traveller plans to do something that breaks the rules attached to a visa or to an ESTA visit, such as working for pay. Our advice is straightforward: learn the boundaries before you fly and ask for professional guidance if anything is in doubt. We offer consultations for these questions.
There is good news on the horizon. Later in 2025 Australian citizens will be able to register for Global Entry, which should speed things up considerably. Among the hundreds of visa holders Globalised supports, nobody has reported trouble since 20 January; in fact, several have said the experience felt smoother than ever.
