You may have seen the screeching online about the two German teenage girls who were denied entry, detained, and deported in Hawaii. The girls posted their own side of things on r/backpackers. And as one person on Reddit noted, they did basically everything they could to raise red flags to immigration:
Basically they only booked for a few days out of their planned trip, with the intention of booking additional as needed. However, they didn’t have the funds on them or something (it’s not clear, they were just asked about how they were going to pay) and when asked how they’ll cover the expense they said they work through virtual employment internationally. They also didn’t have a return flight/connecting flights within the US booked, but they did have an onward flight to Asia booked. This flagged them as coming to the country to work illegally and they were deported as a result.
But of course leftists on Reddit and X are still crying about it.
The US had about 77 million tourists in 2024, about 60 million in 2023. While Visa overstays are said to be largely insignificant, who knows what the truth actually is.