The land of the free: Is it safe to travel to US?

For decades, the United States has positioned itself as the global arbiter of travel safety, issuing colored maps and stern advisories that often paint the rest of the world as a high-risk zone.

However, a look at America from the inside in recent years raises a legitimate question: Is the United States itself still a safe destination for visitors?

Reports of shootings in schools, malls, or universities have ceased to be extraordinary events in American media. Instead, they have devolved into routine news cycles.

Despite occurring almost daily across various states, these incidents are frequently framed as "isolated tragic accidents" rather than a structural crisis.

Survival Kits and Emergency Protocols

Foreign visitors landing at US airports today require more than just a tourist guide; they increasingly need emergency instructions.

Traditional travel experiences now include grim considerations: What is the protocol if gunfire is heard? How does one hide in a public space? Which mobile applications provide the fastest alerts for nearby active-shooter incidents? These are questions that were never part of the classic American "road trip" narrative.

The ICE Factor and Border Anxiety

Concerns extend beyond urban crime to the very gates of entry. Immigration procedures, particularly those conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have become a source of genuine fear.

Recurring accounts of travelers detained for hours, sudden visa cancellations, or immediate deportations without clear explanations have become common themes.

More alarming is that these cases often have nothing to do with legal violations, but rather with personal social media content.

Profiles on Facebook, X, or Instagram have been transformed into "security files."

An old tweet or a sarcastic comment can be interpreted as "problematic discourse" or an "undesirable political stance," resulting in denied entry despite the possession of a valid visa.

Double Standards in Safety Rhetoric

The paradox of "safety" in American discourse is often measured not by the number of victims, but by where the incident occurs.

When violence happens in a developing nation, the State Department promptly labels it a "serious threat."

Yet, when the same scene repeats in an American school or street, it is often minimized as a "regrettable individual incident."

Even in iconic hubs like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, scenes of public violence, open-air thefts, and the visible drug crisis have become part of a daily reality that visitors notice long before residents do. This occurs even as these cities continue to be marketed as symbols of the American Dream.

As the reputation of a nation is increasingly measured by its ability to protect its visitors and respect their privacy and dignity, the traditional image of the United States is being tested. The travel warnings it has long directed at others may now apply to its own soil more than anywhere else.