[00.04] Is America still safe to visit? Every year, millions of tourists travel to the United States. But in the news, you often see stories about shootings, crime, and violence. On top of that the political situation seems to be, well, crazy. So maybe you are asking yourself: is it a good idea to go there right now? Is it safe, even to visit? In today’s episode of ShiftEnglish, we are going to explore this question together.
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[00.50] Welcome to this third episode of ShiftEnglish. My name is Joseph, a British-American living in New Orleans. And in this podcast, there are no boring grammar lessons, no exercises. Instead, I speak to you in English about real subjects, real life, real ideas. That way, you can improve your English naturally, while hopefully learning something interesting. And don’t forget, you can get the full transcript for this episode along with a list of important vocabulary over at ShiftEnglish.com.
[01.29] I hope you are doing well, wherever you are in the world. Here in New Orleans, life feels calm and peaceful most of the time. I can walk in my neighborhood, go to the local cafe, and talk with my friends without feeling afraid. I play soccer, I work, I take my kid to school. I live a pretty regular life! But sometimes, when I read the news, or talk to friends, it seems like America is a very dangerous country. And that contrast—between daily life and the news—is one of the reasons why I wanted to make this episode. Ready to explore this topic? Let’s go!
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[02.26] Before commencing this episode I want to preface it, that is, give a little warning notice about it. This is a sensitive subject. It is also a sensationalist subject. That simply means that it is the type of topic, or subject that can create different opinions. We could also say that a sensationalist subject is a controversial subject. Some quite tricky words to kick this episode off! But don’t worry, I will put them in the official transcript on ShiftEnglish.com along with their definition.
[03.16] Anyway, back to today’s subject – sensationalist topics are the type that news media like to create, because, well, controversy sells! Sensationalist or controversial news articles are more popular. They create debates and disagreements, which increases their popularity. On top of that, I have my own beliefs and my own political thoughts. I am not unbiased, and neither are you! All of this should be kept in mind when listening. Even for myself, an immigrant, living in an important USA city, it’s not entirely clear how safe the USA is at this time for visitors or residents. It’s especially not clear how much of the media is just full of scare stories, and how much is fact. Essentially, what is true and what is false.
[04.30] I am going to do my best to answer this question using what I see around me. What I have learned from my own conversations with travelers to the USA. And what I have found from my own research. I really want for these podcast episodes to be not just helpful for your English learning. I also want these episodes to be an authentic mix of proper research and my own personal experience. To create something that is interesting for you to listen to. So as always, if you have any feedback, or topics you would like me to cover in the future, don’t hesitate to head over to ShiftEnglish.com and send me a message there.
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[05.26] Have you ever gone through the immigration line in the USA as a tourist? The absolutely delightful experience of waiting in line for hours, usually after a tiring long-haul flight. Then to finally be met by the border guard who often asks you a bunch of questions that makes you feel like a criminal even though you haven’t done anything. And then you get your fingerprints taken, your photo taken, and you are good to go. It’s a real joy. Ok, hopefully it’s obvious, I am being quite sarcastic.
[06.06] Oh! And this word ‘quite’ you hear all the time in British and American English. And what is really funny about this word ‘quite’ is that in British English, quite just means ‘a little bit’ or ‘moderately so’. But in American English ‘quite’ means ‘a lot’ or ‘extremely’. Actually, a lot of English speakers don’t even know this difference, but luckily for you I am a British-American! But it can be an important difference. If you go to a British family’s house one day for dinner and you say “oh, the dinner was quite good” – well you basically just said “oh, the dinner was not so bad, it was good, but not amazing”.
[07.04] Anyway, coming back to our topic. Entry into the United States isn’t always a wonderful experience. It can be long. It can be stressful. I’ve experienced entry into the USA as a tourist on an ESTA visa, as a resident on a green card and more recently as a citizen with a passport. I will say that citizens are given a much speedier and more efficient entrance line or entrance queue for passing the border. The Americans say line; the British say queue. Best to know them both. But they both just mean a line of people waiting for something.
[07.53] So, this initial entrance into the United States was already stressful. And we could argue that for a visitor just to enter the USA is becoming less safe. Let me explain. Firstly, the border control, known as the CBP has been granted a lot more power and funding. This began in the early 2000’s and has intensified or increased with the current government. This overall power increase of the CBP is combined with the overall power increase at the same time of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement known more generally as ICE. I’ll try not to bore you with too many of these agency terms. But essentially CBP controls the borders of the USA, deciding who can enter by plane, or boat or by land. And ICE controls the interior of the USA, and oversees the immigration inside the USA.
[09.14] These two work together. And with the expanded power and money of both these agencies, there is an increasing number of stories of visitors that are being detained when trying to enter the USA and then sent back to where they came from. Detained means kept against their will. Like in prison. I’ll put a link to a couple of these types of stories in the transcript at ShiftEnglish.com for anyone wanting to take a look. And secondly there is my anecdotal evidence of this. I like this word a lot. Anecdotal. It has a nice, punchy sound to it! But all it simply means is, my personal experience rather than objective facts.
[10.08] Anyway, my anecdotal evidence of the entrance to the USA becoming more difficult for visitors is that I know two people personally that were refused entry and made to pay for and get a flight straight back to Europe, after they had just arrived off of a long-haul flight. And I know several other people, personally, who were just visiting the USA, and were questioned by officers from the CBP for over an hour in a small room before being allowed to enter the country! I don’t know about you, but for me that would be a scary experience.
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[11.01] But let’s assume, you are like the vast majority of people and you are allowed to enter the USA. Because, yes, despite the scare stories, if you are visiting for a few weeks or less, if you have a clear story, if you have money to support yourself, and if you have not had any previous problems with the USA, you will very likely be allowed to enter. America still wants tourists’ money of course! So, you are in the USA, what now? Is it safe?
[11.42] If you watch any of the news channels in the USA you would probably say, hmmm, not sure. And that’s because if you watch the news for a few minutes, there is always a violent crime being reported somewhere. They create a feeling the USA is unsafe. But what do the statistics say? What do the facts say? It’s actually really interesting and kind of surprising, at least to me! What the facts clearly show is that since the early 1990’s crime and specifically violent crime has been dramatically decreasing in the USA. Yes, decreasing! Even with the assassinations, even with the mass shootings. Overall violent crime is decreasing as a whole. There was an uptick or an increase in violent crime around 2015 and 2020, but it has been decreasing again since then. For example, from 2023 to 2024, there was a nearly 15% decrease in homicide or murder rates. That’s a massive drop!
[13.11] There is a caveat to this good news. There is a limitation to this good news. If the USA is compared to pretty much any country in the European Union for violent crime, well the USA is still winning, in the worse way possible. There is no two ways about it, USA was, is and will still be for some time more dangerous than Europe. The good news is just that the USA isn’t any more dangerous than it was before. Happy days! And one other thing I would add. You can dramatically reduce your chances of being the victim of a violent crime in the USA if you decide not to join a gang in the USA. I’m sorry if this ruins your plans to join a gang here. But I have to say, a lot of the violence, especially involving guns happens between different gangs.
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[14.21] These two issues, immigration strictness and gun violence are perhaps two of the core or main issues why America is currently perceived as potentially unsafe to visit, even as a tourist. But as the facts show, the picture isn’t so clear. The reality behind the headlines is much more nuanced. That is to say, it is much more complicated. Gun violence is actually declining overall. Of course, any time gun violence occurs that is a tragedy. But nonetheless, considering the country as a whole, there is less risk, less chance, that the average person or visitor would be involved in a gun crime, or in fact any violent crime, in the USA today compared to say 30 years ago, or even 5 years ago.
[15.25] So why the difference between the objective reality and the perceived reality? Or, in other words, why the difference between what is true and what we believe to be true? And this will now be more my personal opinion. But to me, having thought about it, having researched it, there are two main reasons which I will discuss. First, there is the media attention. And secondly there is the global perception of the USA at this time.
[16.01] I think the concept of media attention is perhaps more straightforward, more simple. Any time an event happens, specifically a violent event: a mass shooting; a political assassination; a story of someone being detained; et cetera. There is instantly media attention. It is broadcast often in real time, seconds after the event has happened. It is all across social media instantly. And news media channels give these events a lot of attention. They report on these events 24/7. That is to say, all the time, round the clock.
[16.52] I think this problem of intense media attention is well known, and not just a problem in the USA. The media cover almost exclusively violent or simply ‘bad’ news stories. So heightened news coverage results in a heightened perception or feeling that there is more risk, that there is more danger at every corner. It’s quite straightforward.
[17.49] But the global perception of the USA is a little more complicated in terms of its link to how safe America is to visit. Or at least how safe or how dangerous the USA is perceived to be for visitors. But it is, in my opinion, an important link, and one we will look at in the next part of today’s episode.
[17.49] So, what is the global perception of the USA, and why does that matter for our topic? As you might have guessed, global perception of the USA at the time of this episode, in late summer of 2025 is not that great. With a few exceptions, such as Israel, surprise surprise, most countries overall view the USA negatively. This time it’s not just my opinion, the studies show that. I’ll put a link in the transcript at ShiftEnglish.com if you want to give that a look. But to summarize those results, the majority of countries view the USA less favorably than one year previously. And not just by a little bit. Often the decline in the favorable overall view of the USA has dropped doubled digits. To give just one example of the results: In 2024 approximately 44% of the population in Sweden viewed the USA negatively. As of 2025 it is now a staggeringly high, or, extremely high, 79% of the Swedish population that view the USA in a negative light. That is to say, 79% of Swedes have a negative perception of the USA.
[19.22] But why? Why is the USA viewed in such a negative way at this time? There’s no point tiptoeing around this point. That means, there is no point not saying the obvious. The USA president and his team are viewed, generally, as well, arrogant and dangerous. Now, for those more on the political right they view this differently. Frankly, there are many that believe he can do no wrong, especially inside of America. But the reality is, outside of America the Trump administration is viewed as a dangerous influence on democracy as a whole. America that was once viewed as the model of democracy has since lost this idealistic image. And there is a general sense, from those not on the political right, that the situation is getting worse. Free speech being taken away. Election results being apparently tampered, or altered. Political opponents on both sides being the subject of physical violence. The point of this episode is not to get deep in to the politics. But these are some reasons why the USA is viewed in a more negative light recently.
[20.43] Added to this, making it worse, is the way the USA has recently been treating the majority of her allies. What was once viewed as a more reciprocal, or mutual relationship, between America and her allies has started to change. With America charging high tariffs and openly using bully tactics on her allies, the opinion of America has soured. And when we say an opinion has soured, we mean that the opinion was positive before but now it is negative. We can also say milk has soured when we leave it out of the fridge too long. Hence where this saying comes from.
[21.28] The culmination, or the result of this increasingly negative view on the USA, is that democracy in the USA is seen as declining by the majority of people. The situation in the USA is viewed as unstable. Unpredictable. And by the people inside of America that are not aligned with the current government it is viewed similarly. I know several Americans that are actively planning to leave the USA because they view the country as increasingly dangerous. And I want to share those and my personal experiences in the next and final part of this episode.
[22.16] I have been talking in broad strokes, that is to say, I’ve been giving the opinion and facts regarding the majority of people. And my personal opinion is this – if you are a tourist visiting in America, if you have no weird visa issues, if you have a clean passport and record in the USA, if you are from a country that America quote on quote likes, if you aren’t planning on working and if you aren’t planning on joining a gang. Great. Come on over, you are extremely unlikely to have any issues. And you’ll have a nice time. But if you don’t pass all the previous criteria, then absolutely do not come. Wait until there is a more liberal government in place.
[23.15] The danger that exists in this moment in America is targeted. That means it isn’t everyone that is in danger. At least not yet! The groups that are in danger are the immigrants, the minorities, and in a broad sense the rights of women. It blows my mind, it is crazy to me, to be living in a place where a woman doesn’t even get to have control of her own body. In the State of Louisiana, where I live, a woman cannot choose to have an abortion. For any reason. Unless she is literally dying, doctors cannot give her an abortion. And there are a lot of skilled, highly intelligent doctors that have left because of it. If that isn’t dangerous then what is? This right here could be an entire episode in its own right.
[24.17] But the point I am making is that yes in fact, there is a danger in America. A growing danger. And it is a danger targeted at certain groups. It is the immigrants that have lived here for years, most of them working hard, and are now being rounded up, collected, and deported. Or detained. It is the gender and sexual minorities, the queer community, that are being forced to conform, that means they are less free to express how they identify. They are losing rights they previously had. And on top of this the political polarization, that is the process of the politics in the USA becoming more extreme. It is making people feel entitled, or less afraid, to express their hate, to show their hostility towards minority groups. And all these points together is absolutely making America a less safe place to be, to visit or to live, for these specific groups.
[25.34] That’s the end for this episode. I want to thank to thank you for listening to this subject. It definitely isn’t a light or simple subject, especially right now! But there are many good points to America and it’s culture which we will have a look at in later episodes. Many reasons why it is a place worth visiting. And if you are still planning to visit America soon, just remember: don’t join a gang. Just be a tourist. That is the most important advice for a safe visit to the USA! I hope you will join me again next week on ShiftEnglish. And if you have any questions or comments in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out by sending me a message on ShiftEnglish.com. Where you can also get a list of the trickier vocabulary used in this episode. Have a lovely week, until next time.
— Vocabulary List —
- preface: A short introduction at the beginning of a book or speech. Example: The author wrote a short preface to explain why he wrote the book.
- sensitive: Easily affected by feelings or changes. Example: He is very sensitive, so small comments can hurt his feelings.
- sensationalist: Describes news or media that makes stories sound bigger, more shocking, or more dramatic than they really are. Example: The newspaper was called sensationalist because it focused only on scandals.
- controversial: Something that many people disagree about or argue over. Example: The new law is very controversial and people are protesting against it.
- scare stories: News stories that make people afraid, often exaggerated. Example: The media loves scare stories about health risks.
- quite: A little or very, depending on the context and if it is said by a British person or an American person. Example: It is quite hot today, so we should stay inside.
- sarcastic: Saying the opposite of what you really mean, often to be funny or critical. Example: When he said, “Great job!” after my mistake, he was being sarcastic.
- oversees: To manage or supervise something. Example: She oversees a team of ten people at work.
- anecdotal: Based on personal stories or small examples, not facts or studies. Example: His opinion was anecdotal, based only on his friend’s experience.
- intensified: Became stronger or more extreme. Example: The rain intensified during the storm.
- caveat: A small warning or condition before accepting something. Example: I will help you, but with one caveat: you must finish it today.
- nuanced: Showing small differences, not simple or black and white. Example: Her opinion was nuanced, not just good or bad.
- objective: Based on facts, not feelings or personal opinion. Example: The scientist tried to stay objective in her research.
- perceived: How something is seen or understood by people. Example: The plan was perceived as unfair, even if it wasn’t.
- perception: The way people see or think about something. Example: People’s perception of safety is often different from reality.
- staggeringly: Extremely, surprisingly. Example: The mountain was staggeringly high.
- bully: A person who hurts, threatens, or frightens others, often at school. Example: The bully pushed smaller kids in the playground.
— Referenced Links —
- CBP spending and expansion
- German detained by ICE for 2 weeks
- Hiker banned from USA
- Violent crime since 1990s in the USA
- USA’s global perception