Some travelers holding U.S. visas and green cards appear to be pulling back from international trips due to concerns that they may be questioned, detained or even barred from re-entering the country.

Ted Bradpiece, owner of Explorer Travel Services in Canyon Country, Calif., has had one client cancel a trip to South America.

And other clients with green cards, he said, “are just basically not even thinking about traveling internationally right now.”

They are concerned about going through immigration procedures upon re-entry, Bradpiece said, and being pulled for secondary inspection or additional screening, a process that can take several hours and could result in denied entry to the country.

“There are a lot of concerns now, and it’s going to get worse with the new travel bans,” he said, referring to the ban on travel to the U.S. from 12 countries the Trump administration implemented earlier this month.

Advisors who responded to a Travel Weekly reader survey in May reported similar fears.

“I have had a few clients be concerned about whether they would be allowed back in the U.S. even though they have a green card,” one leisure-focused advisor based in Miami wrote.

The advisor said one client walked away from a $40,000 cruise because his girlfriend, a Mexican national, holds a green card.

Another leisure-focused advisor based in Hamilton, N.J., said, “I have had people with green cards cancel trips because they are afraid they will not be allowed back into the country.

“I had immigrants who don’t feel safe traveling, either,” the advisor added.

It’s hard to determine the extent of this issue. The survey asked advisors to write general feedback or concerns about travel but did not explicitly ask about holders of visas or green cards.

Alex Sharpe, CEO of Signature Travel Network, said several members’ clients have brought it up, but “business continues to be really strong, so [it’s] certainly not having a broader impact.”

But, Sharpe added, “the world is certainly a little more uncertain.”

Fears affecting travel plans

One Boston family that travels internationally an average of six or seven times a year has decided to hold off on leaving the country because the husband, a doctor and Indian national, holds an O-1 visa enabling him to work in the U.S.

“He was just really nervous to travel internationally anymore because of going through immigration at the airport and just the uncertainty of what’s happening … even though he’s 100% legal in this country,” said his wife, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the topic.

The couple was particularly shaken after news reports that an assistant professor from Brown University, who held a valid visa, was detained at Boston’s Logan Airport and subsequently deported.

They have so far canceled trips to Portugal and Bermuda and instead have visited Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. Only the wife and daughter will take a trip to Turks and Caicos this summer, though the whole family originally planned to go. The only exception they are mulling is a visit to family in India, where the husband would previously travel every three months.

“I think that he would feel really uneasy about doing that but maybe take on the greater risk because it’s his mother and she’s elderly and unable to travel here,” she said.

The issue is a bigger one for visa holders compared to green card holders, Bradpiece said. Green cards, formally known as permanent residence cards, enable people to live and work permanently in the U.S.

“The concern is: Is my visa going to be revoked?” he said. “Am I going to be able to return on my visa? There are a number of different issues involved.”

Like the Boston family, Bradpiece’s client who canceled the South America trip is considering traveling domestically instead. He said suppliers need to consider loosening cancellation policies for travelers in similar situations, much like many did during the height of the pandemic.

If clients ask him for advice about international travel with a green card, Bradpiece refers them to immigration lawyers. He encouraged other advisors to do the same, even though lawyers may not have concrete answers because the situation is relatively new.

“It’s a situation right now where everyone’s just kind of holding tight. Nobody knows what’s going to happen,” he said, adding that in the meantime, the average traveler with a visa or green card “is scared.”