By Daniel Nardini

I recently talked to my sister who lives in Tampa, Florida. One thing she noticed was the lack of Canadians where they normally would be in and around Tampa today. But not just Canadians were absent—-tourists and long-time residents from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were also absent. She has not seen them in the Publix grocery stores. We now know from tourist agencies that many international visitors are avoiding Florida altogether. No, this lack of tourists has little to do with the massive hurricane that happened in October of 2024. Although my sister told me that there was still some damage from this hurricane almost eight months ago, this is not what has stopped international tourists from going to Florida. A far more insidious problem has arisen that has caused for the first time in a long time a decline in tourism to Florida.

It is due to the arbitrary nature of U.S. immigration where there have been cases of international tourists being arrested and put into prison for as little as not having the right paperwork and getting the paperwork wrong. Countries in the European Union and the government of Canada have been issuing for the first time warnings about going to the United States. They explain that U.S. immigration has become too arbitrary to risk going to America, and these governments advise their nationals to go to other countries. The crazy thing is that while tourism is growing in many parts of the world, it has declined to the United States. The first quarter of international travel around the world is in, and the United States is being left behind. This decline means tens of billions of dollars is not being put into the U.S. economy, and it will mean a serious loss of jobs, income for businesses catering to international travelers, and worse a very sour reputation of what the United States has become under current U.S. President Donald Trump.

This souring of America’s reputation has come to mean that a growing number of foreign residents are now selling their properties to get out of the United Sates because they fear they might be arrested and imprisoned by U.S. immigration. This is happening especially in Republican-controlled states where the governors are giving their blessing for U.S. immigration to go after foreign nationals whether they are illegal or not. More often than not, non-white foreign nationals are frequently the targets of U.S. immigration. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has coordinated local and state law enforcement with U.S. immigration to go after the undocumented which has sadly also netted legal permanent residents and even U.S. citizens. Because DeSantis has created an atmosphere of fear, this is just one more reason why a growing number of international visitors are avoiding Florida. Yes, all of this has unnerved my sister who is now wondering what will happen to the state she lives in. Honestly, I cannot blame her.

For all that is wrong with the state I live in, Illinois is a better place for all its residents. My wife and I simply go to work, come home from work, and prepare to enjoy our lives for the time when we retire. The one thing we do not need is harassment from U.S. immigration, attacks from extreme right wing and extreme left wing lone wolves, and a certain lawless administration that seems to want to set the country on fire. The reason why we have a good life in Illinois are rule of law and due process. Not only that, but the state has worked very hard to bring in jobs (especially high-paying tech jobs) and bring political stability at a time when the United States as a whole is becoming politically and socially unstable. This alone would be reason for many international tourists to not come to the United States. My sister knows some people who work in Florida’s burgeoning tourist business, and I can imagine they must be hurting bad right now.