Sex Workers Fear Border Patrol’s New Social Media Requirements Could Make U.S. Travel Off Limits

A proposed Trump administration policy intended to screen tourists and identify potential threats to national security may have the unintended consequence of keeping porn stars and other sex trade workers out of the United States, too.

If enacted, the proposal, which U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) posted on the Federal Register on Dec. 10, 2025, would require travelers coming from 42 countries whose residents do not currently require visas to visit the U.S. as tourists—such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, and South Korea—to share additional personal information to be approved for entry. 

Public comments on the proposal were due by Feb. 9, 2026. If adopted with no changes, the new regulations could go into effect this summer—just in time for the nation’s peak tourist months.

The new policy may uniquely impact sex workers and sex educators in an increasingly globalized business, experts and sex trade professionals told Rewire News Group. 

“Traveling is a big part of the business today, because you have to meet content creators, you should go, from time to time, to b2b events, and … you can meet a production company at an expo,” said Berlin-based adult performer Jason Steel.

‘Mandatory’ social media disclosure

Social media handles were first added to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) application, which determines a person’s eligibility to travel to the US without a visa, in 2016 as an optional section. The new proposal would require all applicants to list all social media accounts they’ve used in the past five years. The application, which takes the place of a formal visa, can be completed as little as 72 hours before departure to the U.S. But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommends travelers fill it out as soon as travel plans are made. 

The policy does not require that visitors literally upload their social media content to the application. Still, by listing the names of their social media accounts, visitors grant CBP access to review their profiles and historic activity on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, X, BlueSky, and other major social media networks. 

Under the new proposal, travelers may also be asked to provide a range of “high-value data elements,” including all telephone numbers used in the last five years, all email addresses used in the past ten years, and biometric information such as facial images, fingerprints, iris scans, and DNA. The proposal does not clarify whether sharing that information would be mandatory. 

ESTA applications are flagged primarily for security, immigration, or health risks, resulting in travel not being authorized. But what counts as “flagged” in terms of social media can be vague, causing confusion for many travelers planning to enter the U.S.

For those who create online sex content, the uncertainty about their ability to visit the U.S. began to ramp up under President DonaldTrump’s first administration. In 2018, Trump signed a far-reaching anti-sex trafficking law. Combining two prior legislative efforts—the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA)—FOSTA-SESTA was designed to hold websites and other online platforms legally accountable if they knowingly facilitated or supported sex trafficking or prostitution. 

However, FOSTA-SESTA has drawn criticism for its failure to distinguish sex trafficking from sex work. Sex trafficking is the sexual exploitation of people through force, fraud, or coercion for commercial purposes, and sex work is a consensual exchange of sexual services for money or other things of value. Performing in pornography, creating erotic content on OnlyFans, offering companionship as a sugar baby, or working as a phone sex operator are common types of sex work.

(Read more: So You’re Dating A Sex Worker? Here’s What Not To Do)

For sex workers, the lack of distinction can have real-world consequences. 

One London-based dominatrix, who requested to remain anonymous for her security, has had concerns traveling to the U.S. for work in the past. The dominatrix said that in 2019, U.S. border agents questioned sex workers while traveling to the AVN Adult Entertainment expo, the largest trade show and award ceremony in the adult film industry, attracting more than 45,000 attendees annually.

“Some people in the industry were turned away at the border when they stated they would be in Vegas to attend the expo, which raised some red flags with the customs agent,” she said. “I was lucky to get through, but I was asked additional questions about my travels.”

“I used to advise that people delete their work-related social media apps from their phones,” she said. That preventive measure, she added, “wouldn’t be as effective if U.S. tourist visas require people to list their social media accounts ahead of time.” 

A ‘deeper and invasive look’ 

The Trump-proposed social media check of travelers would be a “very concerning issue,” Robert Tsigler, a New York-based attorney specializing in immigration law, told RNG. “[The proposal] not only violates each individual’s right to privacy, but puts at risk those individuals involved in stigmatized occupations, including sex workers.”

“Compared to past travel and entry regulations like travel history or criminal background checks, the new regulation calls for a much deeper and invasive look into the personal lives of individuals,” Tsigler added.

Under the new policy, people who engage in sex work could be denied entry to the U.S. Some may avoid traveling to the U.S. altogether to avoid the heightened application process. 

But the policy could affect more than just sex workers, advocates told RNG. Sex educators, sex therapists, and any other professionals whose work involves discussing sex, sexual health, and sexuality online may also face heightened surveillance of their social media, they said.

Policies like the one proposed “almost always have knock-off effects on the rest of the general public down the line,” said Janelle Toussaint, a somatic sexologist and technical product strategist.

Laws and regulations that broadly target sex work or sexual content often fail to clearly separate consensual adult labor from education, therapy, or advocacy around sexuality. As a result, sex educators, therapists, and researchers can find their work flagged or monitored, even when the content violates no laws or policies.

Sexuality professionals say these kinds of secondary consequences happen when lawmakers make decisions without input from the people most familiar with the work.

“I’m concerned that policymakers, lacking the field-specific expertise that I and my colleagues have, will be unable to separate professional sexuality knowledge and practice from their personal beliefs on sexuality-related matters,” Gwen Walsh, a sex educator and confidential resource advisor for Maine’s community colleges, said. 

That concern extends to how border officials could interpret sexuality professionals’ online work. Canadian sex educator Ali Imperiale, who teaches about sexual health and relationships on YouTube for over 106,000 followers, said she worries that an opaque review of social media content could lead to a biased evaluation of complicated or controversial material.

“Knowing that my ability to cross a border could depend on how someone interprets a podcast clip, an Instagram caption, or a YouTube thumbnail would likely push me toward self-censorship,” Imperiale said. “That’s a hard position to be in when your job is literally to talk openly about topics that already carry stigma.” 

For sex workers concerned that they could be denied entry to the U.S., Steel, the adult performer, recommends an alternative: Germany. His hometown of Berlin is a longtime hub for sexual freedom and expression, and the center-right government there has historically embraced tourism of all types. 

“We welcome everyone,” he said. 

The post Sex Workers Fear Border Patrol’s New Social Media Requirements Could Make U.S. Travel Off Limits appeared first on Rewire News Group.