Influencers urged to steer clear of hot topics during US immigration crackdown
That's the advice lawyers are increasingly giving U.S.-based content creators who aren't citizens as an immigration crackdown spreads across the country.
"Every chance I get to tell them to scrub their socials even for likes and reposts of innocuous content - like JD Vance or anti-war memes - I do," said Genie Doi, an immigration lawyer who works with influencers.
In the combative, anything-goes world of digital media, internet personalities tend to gravitate toward hot-button, controversial subjects, not shy away from them. But in the current political climate, lawyers are telling their clients that weighing in on topics like Palestine or the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles, can come with serious risks, including unwanted scrutiny from authorities or unfriendly competitors.
Last month, Khaby Lame, a Senegalese-Italian influencer with millions of followers on TikTok, was detained by immigration agents in Las Vegas after overstaying the terms of his visa, according to a Department of Homeland Security senior official. Lame, who has partnered with many mainstream brands, including Pepsi and Hugo Boss, has since voluntarily left the country.
Afterward, Bo Loudon, a conservative influencer who is friends with President Donald Trump's son Barron, took credit for tipping off DHS. Even though Lame typically doesn't speak in his TikTok videos, which come across as entirely apolitical, Loudon has since described him as a "far-left influencer." Lame didn't respond to a request for comment.
"No one is above the law!" Loudon wrote on X.
For many social-media personalities around the world, the U.S. is a desirable place to work due to the big marketing budgets of U.S. brands, as well as the proximity to dealmakers and casting directors in Hollywood.
But for anyone with a large following on social media, coming into the U.S. these days isn't without potential hazards. In May, Hasan Piker, a popular, far-left political commentator and U.S. citizen, was stopped and questioned by U.S. border agents at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport about his views on Palestine, which he regularly shares on Amazon.com Inc.'s livestreaming site Twitch.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Piker said he believes DHS interrogated him to send a message to others in his position. "The goal was to threaten people who might also want to speak out and go to protests regardless of their citizenship status," he said. "It's a threatening environment they want to cultivate to stop people from exercising their First Amendment rights."
"Our officers are following the law, not agendas," DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin responded via email. "Upon entering the country, this individual (Hasan Piker) was referred for further inspection - a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released."
Earlier this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection revoked Piker's Global Entry privileges - a program in which approved individuals get expedited clearance on their return to the U.S.
Doi, the immigration lawyer, is now advising clients who aren't U.S. citizens to avoid international travel altogether. At ports of entry, CBP has broad authority to search and seize electronic devices of incoming travelers though the agency says that fewer than .01% of all international travelers were subject to such searches last year.
"Every entry at the border is an opportunity for CBP to inspect your electronics without a warrant," Doi said.
One in five Americans get their news from influencers, according to a 2024 Pew Research survey, with 27% of news influencers identifying as conservative or pro-Trump, versus 21% as left-leaning. So far in his second term, Trump has directed most of his attacks on the media at mainstream outlets, ranging from CNN and CBS News to the New York Times - all of which have full-time legal departments poised to respond to such threats. By contrast, even the most popular online creators tend to have much slimmer operations, potentially leaving them more vulnerable to aggressive legal tactics.
David Rugendorf, an immigration attorney, said he now advises content creators, regardless of their citizenship status, that anything they have ever posted online could be used against them. As a result, he said, some are opting to delete old posts.
"This government," Rugendorf said, "is particularly attuned to the power of social media" and "wants to counter" certain positions.
In early June, Derek Guy, a fashion critic whose popularity has soared on social media for mocking the sartorial choices of conservative politicians, revealed his own status as a longtime, undocumented resident of the U.S. "The lack of legal immigration has totally shaped my life," he wrote on X, where he has more than 1 million followers. "It has taken an emotional toll, as this legal issue hangs over your head like a black cloud."
Afterward, some conservatives suggested online that the Trump administration should kick Guy out of the country. Before long, Vice President Vance weighed in on X, posting a meme of the actor Jack Nicholson nodding his head up and down menacingly. Guy didn't respond to requests for comment for this story.
In mid-June, Mario Guevara, an independent, Spanish-speaking journalist with a sizable online following, was arrested while livestreaming anti-Trump protests outside of Atlanta. He was subsequently handed over to ICE. Guevara, who moved to the U.S. from El Salvador in 2004 according to the New Yorker, is currently facing deportation hearings. The Committee to Protect Journalists has said that Guevara "has authorization to work" in the U.S. DHS said that he entered the country illegally. Guevara's lawyer didn't respond to a request for comment.
"Following his arrest by local authorities, ICE placed a detainer on him," DHS's McLaughlin said. "Following his release, he was turned over to ICE custody and has been placed in removal proceedings."
Scrutiny from immigration authorities isn't the only potential risk for politically outspoken influencers. In recent years, a growing number of large advertisers have been shying away from politically active creators, said Crystal Duncan, an executive vice president of brand engagement at Tinuiti, a marketing firm.
In recent months, many brand managers have grown even more wary. "In general, brands have been less vocal about political and social issues since the change in administration, given shifts in the political climate and heightened polarization," said Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at eMarketer.
David Melik Telfer, a lawyer in Los Angeles, said that most international influencers come to the U.S. on O1-B visas, under the same category as traditional entertainers. Lately, he said, the U.S. State Department has been scrutinizing applications more closely and challenging them more often.
"They are examining everybody's social media," he said. "If your number one priority is not being detained and remaining in the U.S., I would certainly not attend any protest."
Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
US tariffs on European goods threaten to shake up the world's largest trade relationship
FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Union expects to find out on Monday whether President Donald Trump will impose punishing tariffs on America's largest trade partner in a move economists have warned would have repercussions for companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. Trump imposed a 20% import tax on all EU-made products in early April as part of a set of tariffs targeting countries with which the United States has a trade imbalance. Hours after the nation-specific duties took effect, he put them on hold until July 9 at a standard rate of 10% to quiet financial markets and allow time for negotiations. Expressing displeasure the EU's stance in trade talks, however, Trump said he would increase the tariff rate for European exports to 50%, which could make everything — from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals — much more expensive in the U.S. The EU's executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc's 27-member nations, said its leaders hope to strike a deal with the Trump administration. Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNN's 'State of the Union' program on Sunday that 'the EU was very slow in coming to the table' but that talks were now making 'very good progress.' Here are important things to know about trade between the United States and the European Union. The EU's executive commission describes the trade between the U.S. and the EU as 'the most important commercial relationship in the world.' The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, or an average of 4.6 billion euros a day, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. The biggest U.S. export to Europe is crude oil, followed by pharmaceuticals, aircraft, automobiles, and medical and diagnostic equipment. Europe's biggest exports to the U.S. are pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, and wine and spirits. Trump has complained about the EU's 198 billion-euro trade surplus in goods, which shows Americans buy more stuff from European businesses than the other way around. However, American companies fill some of the gap by outselling the EU when it comes to services such as cloud computing, travel bookings, and legal and financial services. The U.S. services surplus took the nation's trade deficit with the EU down to 50 billion euros ($59 billion), which represents less than 3% of overall U.S.-EU trade. Before Trump returned to office, the U.S. and the EU maintained a generally cooperative trade relationship and low tariff levels on both sides. The U.S. rate averaged 1.47% for European goods, while the EU's averaged 1.35% for American products. But the White House has taken a much less friendly posture toward the longstanding U.S. ally since February. Along with the fluctuating tariff rate on European goods Trump has floated, the EU has been subject to his administration's 50% tariff on steel and aluminum and a 25% tax on imported automobiles and parts. Trump administration officials have raised a slew of issues they want to see addressed, including agricultural barriers such as EU health regulations that include bans on chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef. Trump has also criticized Europe's value-added taxes, which EU countries levy at the point of sale this year at rates of 17% to 27%. But many economists see VAT as trade-neutral since they apply to domestic goods and services as well as imported ones. Because national governments set the taxes through legislation, the EU has said they aren't on the table during trade negotiations. 'On the thorny issues of regulations, consumer standards and taxes, the EU and its member states cannot give much ground,' Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Germany's Berenberg bank, said. 'They cannot change the way they run the EU's vast internal market according to U.S. demands, which are often rooted in a faulty understanding of how the EU works.' Economists and companies say higher tariffs will mean higher prices for U.S. consumers on imported goods. Importers must decide how much of the extra tax costs to absorb through lower profits and how much to pass on to customers. Mercedes-Benz dealers in the U.S. have said they are holding the line on 2025 model year prices 'until further notice.' The German automaker has a partial tariff shield because it makes 35% of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold in the U.S. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but the company said it expects prices to undergo 'significant increases' in coming years. Simon Hunt, CEO of Italian wine and spirits producer Campari Group, told investment analysts that prices could increase for some products or stay the same depending what rival companies do. If competitors raise prices, the company might decide to hold its prices on Skyy vodka or Aperol aperitif to gain market share, Hunt said. Trump has argued that making it more difficult for foreign companies to sell in the U.S. is a way to stimulate a revival of American manufacturing. Many companies have dismissed the idea or said it would take years to yield positive economic benefits. However, some corporations have proved willing to shift some production stateside. France-based luxury group LVMH, whose brands include Tiffany & Co., Luis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Moet & Chandon, could move some production to the United States, billionaire CEO Bernaud Arnault said at the company's annual meeting in April. Arnault, who attended Trump's inauguration, has urged Europe to reach a deal based on reciprocal concessions. 'If we end up with high tariffs, … we will be forced to increase our U.S.-based production to avoid tariffs,' Arnault said. 'And if Europe fails to negotiate intelligently, that will be the consequence for many companies. … It will be the fault of Brussels, if it comes to that.' Some forecasts indicate the U.S. economy would be more at risk if the negotiations fail. Without a deal, the EU would lose 0.3% of its gross domestic product and U.S. GDP would fall 0.7%, if Trump slaps imported goods from Europe with tariffs of 10% to 25%, according to a research review by Bruegel, a think tank in Brussels. Given the complexity of some of the issues, the two sides may arrive only at a framework deal before Wednesday's deadline. That would likely leave a 10% base tariff, as well as the auto, steel and aluminum tariffs in place until details of a formal trade agreement are ironed out. The most likely outcome of the trade talks is that 'the U.S. will agree to deals in which it takes back its worst threats of 'retaliatory' tariffs well beyond 10%,' Schmieding said. 'However, the road to get there could be rocky.' The U.S. offering exemptions for some goods might smooth the path to a deal. The EU could offer to ease some regulations that the White House views as trade barriers. 'While Trump might be able to sell such an outcome as a 'win' for him, the ultimate victims of his protectionism would, of course, be mostly the U.S. consumers,' Schmieding said.
Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Influencers urged to steer clear of hot topics during US immigration crackdown
Avoid politics. That's the advice lawyers are increasingly giving U.S.-based content creators who aren't citizens as an immigration crackdown spreads across the country. "Every chance I get to tell them to scrub their socials even for likes and reposts of innocuous content - like JD Vance or anti-war memes - I do," said Genie Doi, an immigration lawyer who works with influencers. In the combative, anything-goes world of digital media, internet personalities tend to gravitate toward hot-button, controversial subjects, not shy away from them. But in the current political climate, lawyers are telling their clients that weighing in on topics like Palestine or the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles, can come with serious risks, including unwanted scrutiny from authorities or unfriendly competitors. Last month, Khaby Lame, a Senegalese-Italian influencer with millions of followers on TikTok, was detained by immigration agents in Las Vegas after overstaying the terms of his visa, according to a Department of Homeland Security senior official. Lame, who has partnered with many mainstream brands, including Pepsi and Hugo Boss, has since voluntarily left the country. Afterward, Bo Loudon, a conservative influencer who is friends with President Donald Trump's son Barron, took credit for tipping off DHS. Even though Lame typically doesn't speak in his TikTok videos, which come across as entirely apolitical, Loudon has since described him as a "far-left influencer." Lame didn't respond to a request for comment. "No one is above the law!" Loudon wrote on X. For many social-media personalities around the world, the U.S. is a desirable place to work due to the big marketing budgets of U.S. brands, as well as the proximity to dealmakers and casting directors in Hollywood. But for anyone with a large following on social media, coming into the U.S. these days isn't without potential hazards. In May, Hasan Piker, a popular, far-left political commentator and U.S. citizen, was stopped and questioned by U.S. border agents at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport about his views on Palestine, which he regularly shares on Inc.'s livestreaming site Twitch. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Piker said he believes DHS interrogated him to send a message to others in his position. "The goal was to threaten people who might also want to speak out and go to protests regardless of their citizenship status," he said. "It's a threatening environment they want to cultivate to stop people from exercising their First Amendment rights." "Our officers are following the law, not agendas," DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin responded via email. "Upon entering the country, this individual (Hasan Piker) was referred for further inspection - a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply for any traveler. Once his inspection was complete, he was promptly released." Earlier this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection revoked Piker's Global Entry privileges - a program in which approved individuals get expedited clearance on their return to the U.S. Doi, the immigration lawyer, is now advising clients who aren't U.S. citizens to avoid international travel altogether. At ports of entry, CBP has broad authority to search and seize electronic devices of incoming travelers though the agency says that fewer than .01% of all international travelers were subject to such searches last year. "Every entry at the border is an opportunity for CBP to inspect your electronics without a warrant," Doi said. One in five Americans get their news from influencers, according to a 2024 Pew Research survey, with 27% of news influencers identifying as conservative or pro-Trump, versus 21% as left-leaning. So far in his second term, Trump has directed most of his attacks on the media at mainstream outlets, ranging from CNN and CBS News to the New York Times - all of which have full-time legal departments poised to respond to such threats. By contrast, even the most popular online creators tend to have much slimmer operations, potentially leaving them more vulnerable to aggressive legal tactics. David Rugendorf, an immigration attorney, said he now advises content creators, regardless of their citizenship status, that anything they have ever posted online could be used against them. As a result, he said, some are opting to delete old posts. "This government," Rugendorf said, "is particularly attuned to the power of social media" and "wants to counter" certain positions. In early June, Derek Guy, a fashion critic whose popularity has soared on social media for mocking the sartorial choices of conservative politicians, revealed his own status as a longtime, undocumented resident of the U.S. "The lack of legal immigration has totally shaped my life," he wrote on X, where he has more than 1 million followers. "It has taken an emotional toll, as this legal issue hangs over your head like a black cloud." Afterward, some conservatives suggested online that the Trump administration should kick Guy out of the country. Before long, Vice President Vance weighed in on X, posting a meme of the actor Jack Nicholson nodding his head up and down menacingly. Guy didn't respond to requests for comment for this story. In mid-June, Mario Guevara, an independent, Spanish-speaking journalist with a sizable online following, was arrested while livestreaming anti-Trump protests outside of Atlanta. He was subsequently handed over to ICE. Guevara, who moved to the U.S. from El Salvador in 2004 according to the New Yorker, is currently facing deportation hearings. The Committee to Protect Journalists has said that Guevara "has authorization to work" in the U.S. DHS said that he entered the country illegally. Guevara's lawyer didn't respond to a request for comment. "Following his arrest by local authorities, ICE placed a detainer on him," DHS's McLaughlin said. "Following his release, he was turned over to ICE custody and has been placed in removal proceedings." Scrutiny from immigration authorities isn't the only potential risk for politically outspoken influencers. In recent years, a growing number of large advertisers have been shying away from politically active creators, said Crystal Duncan, an executive vice president of brand engagement at Tinuiti, a marketing firm. In recent months, many brand managers have grown even more wary. "In general, brands have been less vocal about political and social issues since the change in administration, given shifts in the political climate and heightened polarization," said Jasmine Enberg, principal analyst at eMarketer. David Melik Telfer, a lawyer in Los Angeles, said that most international influencers come to the U.S. on O1-B visas, under the same category as traditional entertainers. Lately, he said, the U.S. State Department has been scrutinizing applications more closely and challenging them more often. "They are examining everybody's social media," he said. "If your number one priority is not being detained and remaining in the U.S., I would certainly not attend any protest." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
8 hours ago
US tariffs on European goods threaten to shake up trade relationship
FRANKFURT, Germany -- FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — America's largest trade partner, the European Union, is among the entities awaiting word Monday on whether U.S. President Donald Trump will impose punishing tariffs on their goods, a move economists have warned would have repercussions for companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic. Trump imposed a 20% import tax on all EU-made products in early April as part of a set of tariffs targeting countries with which the United States has a trade imbalance. Hours after the nation-specific duties took effect, he put them on hold until July 9 at a standard rate of 10% to quiet financial markets and allow time for negotiations. Expressing displeasure the EU's stance in trade talks, however, the president said he would jack up the tariff rate for European exports to 50%. A rate that high could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals much more expensive in the U.S. The EU, whose 27 member nations operate as a single economic bloc, said its leaders hoped to strike a deal with the Trump administration. Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes. Here are important things to know about trade between the United States and the European Union. A lot of money is at stake in the trade talks. The EU's executive commission describes the trade between the U.S. and the EU as "the most important commercial relationship in the world.' The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, or an average of 4.6 billion euros a day, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. The biggest U.S. export to Europe is crude oil, followed by pharmaceuticals, aircraft, automobiles, and medical and diagnostic equipment. Europe's biggest exports to the U.S. are pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments, and wine and spirits. Trump has complained about the EU's 198 billion-euro ($233 billion) trade surplus in goods, which shows Americans buy more stuff from European businesses than the other way around. However, American companies fill some of the gap by outselling the EU when it comes to services such as cloud computing, travel bookings, and legal and financial services. The U.S. services surplus took the nation's trade deficit with the EU down to 50 billion euros ($59 billion), which represents less than 3% of overall U.S.-EU trade. Before Trump returned to office, the U.S. and the EU maintained a generally cooperative trade relationship and low tariff levels on both sides. The U.S. rate averaged 1.47% for European goods, while the EU's averaged 1.35% for American products. But the White House has taken a much less friendly posture toward the longstanding U.S. ally since February. Along with the fluctuating tariff rate on European goods Trump has floated, the EU has been subject to his administration's 50% tariff on steel and aluminum and a 25% tax on imported automobiles and parts. Trump administration officials have raised a slew of issues they want to see addressed, including agricultural barriers such as EU health regulations that include bans on chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef. Trump has also criticized Europe's value-added taxes, which EU countries levy at the point of sale this year at rates of 17% to 27%. But many economists see VAT as trade-neutral since they apply to domestic goods and services as well as imported ones. Because national governments set the taxes through legislation, the EU has said they aren't on the table during trade negotiations. 'On the thorny issues of regulations, consumer standards and taxes, the EU and its member states cannot give much ground,' Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Germany's Berenberg bank, said. 'They cannot change the way they run the EU's vast internal market according to U.S. demands, which are often rooted in a faulty understanding of how the EU works.' Economists and companies say higher tariffs will mean higher prices for U.S. consumers on imported goods. Importers must decide how much of the extra tax costs to absorb through lower profits and how much to pass on to customers. Mercedes-Benz dealers in the US. have said they are holding the line on 2025 model year prices 'until further notice.' The German automaker has a partial tariff shield because it makes 35% of the Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold in the U.S. in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but the company said it expects prices to undergo 'significant increases' in coming years. Simon Hunt, CEO of Italian wine and spirits producer Campari Group, told investment analysts that prices could increase for some products or stay the same depending what rival companies do. If competitors raise prices, the company might decide to hold its prices on Skyy vodka or Aperol aperitif to gain market share, Hunt said. Trump has argued that making it more difficult for foreign companies to sell in the U.S. is a way to stimulate a revival of American manufacturing. Many companies have dismissed the idea or said it would take years to yield positive economic benefits. However, some corporations have proved willing to shift some production stateside. France-based luxury group LVMH, whose brands include Tiffany & Co., Luis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Moet & Chandon, could move some production to the United States, billionaire CEO Bernaud Arnault said at the company's annual meeting in April. Arnault, who attended Trump's inauguration, has urged Europe to reach a deal based on reciprocal concessions. 'If we end up with high tariffs, ... we will be forced to increase our U.S.-based production to avoid tariffs,' Arnault said. 'And if Europe fails to negotiate intelligently, that will be the consequence for many companies. ... It will be the fault of Brussels, if it comes to that.' Some forecasts indicate the U.S. economy would be more at risk if the negotiations fail. Without a deal, the EU would lose 0.3% of its gross domestic product and U.S. GDP would fall 0.7%, if Trump slaps imported goods from Europe with tariffs of 10% to 25%, according to a research review by Bruegel, a think tank in Brussels. Given the complexity of some of the issues, the two sides may arrive only at a framework deal before Wednesday's deadline. That would likely leave a 10% base tariff, as well as the auto, steel and aluminum tariffs in place until details of a formal trade agreement are ironed out. The most likely outcome of the trade talks is that 'the U.S. will agree to deals in which it takes back its worst threats of 'retaliatory' tariffs well beyond 10%,' Schmieding said. 'However, the road to get there could be rocky.' The U.S. offering exemptions for some goods might smooth the path to a deal. The EU could offer to ease some regulations that the White House views as trade barriers. 'While Trump might be able to sell such an outcome as a 'win' for him, the ultimate victims of his protectionism would, of course, be mostly the U.S. consumers,' Schmieding said.
