In early May, Cannes acts as the kickoff for the summer movie season. Photo calls, press tours, international premieres and, yes, festivals see talent moving in and out of the U.S., while the Marché du Film and other forums see filmmakers traveling to get their movies financed. This year, non-citizens working in Hollywood are on edge as Donald Trump causes chaos along the country’s borders.
Stoking worries for those who reside in the U.S. on non-immigrant visas and green cards are first-person stories about increased scrutiny by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and officers searching personal digital devices at airports. Says one prominent industry journalist who has a valid green card and will be traveling to the festival: “I’ve been anxious about it with every alarming account I read of another fully documented permanent resident being turned away at the border.”
Still, immigration experts who spoke to THR expressed that while caution is important and travel plans should be scrutinized, it would be difficult to have any best practices or advisories in place at this point as the administration’s approach to the border is changing too rapidly. “There’s definitely a higher intensity coming from CBP recently, but the vast majority of people are still going to be coming and going into the United States without meaningful issue,” says immigration attorney Stephanie Friedberg.
According to several immigration attorneys who work in Hollywood, there has been a notable uptick in calls from clients, ranging from individual talent to companies and studios, worried about travel given the stories coming from the borders. “Right now we’re telling our clients to make a personal risk assessment if you think you have to travel,” says Eric Welsh, a partner of Reeves Immigration Law Group. “If you do think it’s important enough, be careful, be diligent and be aware of what you’re doing.”
Some worried travelers have been advised to turn off cellphones and pack them into checked luggage so the phone is not immediately accessible during re-entry. Other suggestions include sending the phone’s SIM card by mail or getting burner phones and computers explicitly for travel. Documents, such as visas or supporting materials that show approvals and intent to work in the U.S., should be presented physically. If shown digitally, it provides the opportunity for a CBP agent to access cellphones. One filmmaker who is in the U.S. on a visa and is seeking to travel internationally says they have purged their devices, including text messages and social media, of any critical references to the president and his administration.
Recently, on the red carpet at the BAFTA TV awards, actor Jonathan Pryce laughed about not being let into the country if he commented on Trump’s Hollywood tariff plan.
Experts note that there are other factors that mean non-immigrant visa holders seeking entry or re-entry into the U.S. should be diligent, including those who have been politically outspoken on social media, in particular about the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. On April 9, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said it will begin screening immigrants’ social media for evidence of antisemitism. Although there are no reports of a high-profile incident yet, trans persons on visas in the U.S. should also be cautious when considering travel because of a State Department directive in April that requires visa applicants to disclose their sex assigned at birth.
With ever-changing executive orders — as when student visas were abruptly restored April 25 for thousands of international students — there is more uncertainty on the horizon for Hollywood. And while Cannes has visa holders already based in the U.S. worried about traveling out of the country, immigration experts are bracing for a larger wave of international talent seeking entry into the country in the coming months, in time for the fall festival and awards season.
