Married, but Afraid to Travel

New York Times

15-05-2025

Two weeks before Gabby Morrison and Luke Joseph were set to fly to Tokyo for their honeymoon, they canceled their trip.
Mr. Joseph, 25, moved from Kent, England, to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the week of their March 21 wedding on a K-1 visa, which allows a foreign national engaged to a U.S. citizen to enter the country for the purpose of marriage. But the K-1 visa doesn't allow Mr. Joseph to leave and re-enter the country until he has received a green card, which can take five months to a year.
'We just didn't realize that he couldn't leave until the legal process is over,' Ms. Morrison, 23, said. 'It just really hit us hard.'
When the couple, who met in 2014, shared a TikTok video about canceling their honeymoon, it was flooded with comments from users expressing anxiety about international travel over concerns that they may be detained or deported.
Uncertainty around the processing times for green card permanent residency, coupled with heightened immigration fears under the Trump administration, has led many engaged and recently married couples — in which one person is a U.S. citizen and the other is not — to consider canceling or rescheduling their upcoming destination weddings and honeymoons.
'People assume that because you're married to a U.S. citizen, you have more rights,' said Terrica Jennings, an immigration lawyer in Washington, adding that foreign nationals in the process of becoming green card holders have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at various airports in the country in higher numbers than previous years.
When asked about the crackdown at airports, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said, 'Lawful travelers have nothing to fear from these measures, which are designed to protect our nation's security.'
While brainstorming new potential honeymoon locations, Ms. Morrison and Mr. Joseph considered traveling to Hawaii. But under the Trump administration, noncitizens have been facing increased scrutiny in domestic airports in places like Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a result, they've held off on making any concrete plans.
One such high-profile case occurred in February, when Bradley Bartell and Camila Muñoz, a couple from Wisconsin who were married last year, went on a belated honeymoon trip to Puerto Rico. On their way back to Wisconsin, an immigration agent asked Ms. Muñoz if she was an American citizen, which they thought was unusual for travel to a U.S. territory. She answered no, and that she is from Peru.
Ms. Muñoz, who had overstayed her work-study visa when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, explained that she and her husband had submitted the paperwork for her green card, and she should be receiving it soon. Their explanation was not enough for border officials, and even though she lives in Wisconsin, she spent 49 days in detention in Louisiana.
'They were just saving up to do the honeymoon, and so they did Puerto Rico thinking nothing of it,' said David Rozas, an immigration lawyer in Baton Rouge, La., representing Ms. Muñoz, 'and otherwise had a great honeymoon until they got caught up at the airport.'
Now, Ms. Muñoz is waiting for a court date. 'Hopefully we will be able to terminate the proceedings, and then she can adjust status through U.S.C.I.S.,' Mr. Muñoz said.
Stories like these have led to immigration lawyers and experts receiving an influx of calls from couples seeking wedding and honeymoon advice, even from those who are legal permanent residents.
'Every day I hear something like this,' said Pouyan Darian, an immigration lawyer in Bardonia, N.Y. 'People are heartbroken when I tell them you really should not travel until the green card is physically in your hand. I've seen clients cry during consultations because I just destroyed their wedding plans and they need to cancel a wedding abroad or postpone it indefinitely. They don't know when the wedding will be because it all depends on the green card processing time.'
According to Mr. Darian, marriage-based green card processing times are expected to slow down under the Trump administration, as more couples will now face mandatory interviews.
Elizabeth Priya Kumar, a wedding planner in New York specializing in destination weddings for U.S.-based clients, is working with a couple reconsidering their wedding location. They had hoped to have it in Delhi, India, where the groom, a legal resident, is from. Now, they are considering having their wedding in Louisiana, where the bride's family is from, to avoid immigration risks.
But that would mean that his family, who lives in Delhi, would be unable to attend.
The Trump administration's immigration crackdown has also affected couples planning destination weddings who must now consider that some guests might not be able to attend over concerns of being detained or denied re-entry to the United States.
These concerns come as the Trump administration attempts to increase the pace of deportations, taking more aggressive actions in recent weeks, including deporting a 2-year-old U.S. citizen to Honduras.
Murad Awawdeh, the president of the New York Immigration Coalition, said that the Trump administration has issued hundreds of anti-immigrant policies, actions and executive orders. 'It has never been about safety and security with this administration, it's about cruelty,' Mr. Awawdeh said. 'They want to sow as much chaos, fear and confusion as possible to scare people, and to an extent it's working.'
Immigration lawyers and experts recommend that individuals who are not U.S. citizens consult with an attorney before traveling. Adding to that, Ms. Jennings said, 'Generally speaking, clients that have Temporary Protected Status, DACA or a criminal history — our advice to them is simply: Don't travel.'
Ms. Jennings said that permanent residents who spend extended periods of time outside of the country have also experienced increased scrutiny, and she recommends carrying pertinent immigration documents at all times, even when traveling domestically.
'As far as traveling is concerned, I don't really warn my clients against traveling if they have a green card,' she said. 'I just remind them to make sure that they're traveling with proper documents.'
Ms. Jennings added that she explains to clients, 'You're traveling at your own risk. This is a different environment.'