Denmark and Finland have joined a growing list of countries in updating advice for residents travelling to the US, following the Trump administration’s increasingly hostile treatment of foreign travellers, reports the Guardian.
The two Scandinavian countries revised their guidance for transgender travellers specifically, the Danish government advising them to contact the US embassy in Copenhagen “prior to travel for guidance on how to proceed.” Both countries allow citizens to identify their gender as X, while the application form for the US Electronic System for Travel Authorisation only allows travellers to select male or female.
Refusal to recognise more than two genders was among Trump’s earliest executive orders after taking office, along with a raft of other attacks on the transgender community’s ability to serve in the military, play sports or access gender-affirming care as a minor.
The Finnish government warns on its website that if the sex on a resident’s passport differs from the one assigned at birth, “US authorities may refuse entry.” Their change came on the heels of Germany updating its guidance for transgender travellers in early March.
At least three German nationals are being detained or have been denied entry by US border officials. Sebastian Fischer, a German government spokesperson, told Euronews after the third case came to light that the government was “monitoring the situation” and liaising with other EU countries to determine if these were isolated cases or if they represented “a change in American immigration policy.”
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Cisgender travellers also face heightened risk, with a string of entry denials and detentions of travellers from other countries underscoring the threat.
The United Kingdom warned its residents that they “may be liable to arrest or detention” if they do not comply with all US entry rules after a Welsh tourist was detained and shackled for 19 days in prison-like conditions. She was accused of violating the terms of her tourist visa by “helping around the house” in exchange for a place to stay on her cross-country backpacking trip. Others, including a French researcher and punk band UK Subs, were denied entry simply for criticising Trump.
US tourism numbers were already predicted to drop under Trump, his win and policy decisions since taking office leading Tourism Economics, a leading industry monitoring group, to revise downward from a 5-percent rise to a 9-percent decrease.
That predicted US$64-billion shortfall in tourism revenue predates the recent attacks on travellers and workers, including those from close allies like Canada, which has become a favourite target of US President Donald Trump.
In February, the number of Canadians visiting the US dropped by double digits, both road (-23 percent) and air (-13 percent) traffic declining year-on-year, according to Canadian government statistics. With Canada and much of Western Europe, which accounted for more than a third of overseas travellers last year, facing increasing hostility from the US, tourism could see an even bigger hit from Trump’s presidency.
