Students heading to the United States on J1 visas may have a few nervous moments as they pass through immigration this summer as the Trump administration carries out social media checks on anyone seeking entry.However, there is no deterring Cork student Ronan O’Keeffe. “I’ve always viewed it [the J1] as a rite of passage ... a quintessentially Irish thing.”O’Keeffe, who is finishing his third year in law and business at University College Cork, said he would be “more concerned if I wasn’t going through the J1 programme” as he believed there was a certain reassurance from the student visa route.The social media checks were first announced last year, prompting Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn (AMLÉ) – the organisation formerly known as the Union of Students in Ireland – to issue a notice to those travelling to the United States to be “informed about the potential risks involved in activism on while on a J1 visa”.AMLÉ’s vice president for campaigns, Faye Ní Dhomhnaill, said last year’s statement was issued as part of a “boots on the ground” approach to a “quickly” developing situation with shifts in US immigration policy. This summer, Ní Dhomhnaill said there is an “equal level of concern” from AMLÉ regarding students’ safety on their J1, but a new statement has not been issued because the situation generally remains the same.Ní Dhomhnaill said students should avoid travelling to the United States if they are in any way worried about the “right-wing rhetoric” of the Trump administration, adding “if they are seeing violence on social media” where they are going, students should perhaps consider interrailing instead.“If you are considering the trip, consider the political climate,” Ní Dhomhnaill said.Amy Coyne, a 2025 University College Dublin geography and Irish graduate from Co Kildare, has made the journey to New Hampshire twice already to work in a summer camp. She said she had a lot fewer nerves during her first J1 in 2024 than she does now.“You kind of feel like you can’t say anything, like out loud or in a place where you could be heard saying something against Trump,” Coyne said.[ ‘There’s no way I’m going to the US now’: Irish students choose Europe over J1 for summer jobsOpens in new window ]“I did find it harder to get the visa this year and I struggled a lot more to get an appointment, and they did actually reject the visa until they could review all my social media,” she said.For her first trip to the US, that “wasn’t even something you had to think about”. General safety insecurities persist for many students heading abroad this summer due to subsequent escalations in violence from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).Tommy White, a final-year Dublin City University accounting and finance student from Dublin, said a level of worry over immigration policies in the US was “definitely in the back of our minds the whole time” in the aftermath of the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed by Ice agents in Minneapolis earlier this year.Tommy White White said the social media screenings presented him and his friends with a dilemma before travelling but they decided to “weigh up the options” and decided heading to New York was worth the risk for a chance at living away from home. “You don’t want to be hiding who you really are but you want to get into the country,” White said. White later told The Irish Times after reaching New York that he passed through border control with “no bother”, settling in to the “go-go-go culture” of the city.Claire Buckley, a spokeswoman for travel company Usit, which assists students with J1 applications, said 5,306 J-1 visas, including Summer Work and Travel and Camp Counsellor visas, were issued to Irish participants travelling to the US in 2025, reflecting the overall figure for Ireland, not just Usit alone.That figure dropped slightly from the number of visas issued in 2024, which totalled 5,500.While the exact number of visas issued this year could not yet be determined as the process is still ongoing, Buckley said “demand has remained strong with interest broadly in line with last year”.As part of its checks, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said it will “consider social media content that indicates ... endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting anti-Semitic terrorist organisations” such as Hamas and Hizbullah. Officials have not disclosed how social media information is evaluated, however, promoting concerns other forms of comment, including direct criticism of Trump, could be penalised.Buckley said the outlook for students heading over to the US this summer is “positive” and that some of the most popular destinations include Boston, Chicago and New York.However, one destination popular for those deciding not to go on a J1 this year is Vancouver in Canada, which has become a better alternative for students such as Adam Kennedy, a final-year University of Galway commerce student. Adam Kennedy (22) at Granville Island, Vancouver Kennedy explained the cost and ease of planning made the trip to Canada a better option for applying for a work visa, which allows him stay for two years versus a few months on a J1. Concerns about their wellbeing partly influenced the decision to rule out the US as a suitable destination for Kennedy and his friends.“It’s just something new because I’ve been to the US before,” Kennedy said, adding border control in the United States makes the whole process of stepping foot on American soil “way more intense”.Kennedy said upon arriving in Vancouver he found there was “a lot more freedom” compared with the United States.Most Irish students who have applied for J1 visas to work in the United States this summer will be unaffected by the US government’s suspension of visa interviews for foreign students, according to travel experts.[ Irish students’ J1 plans in the Trump era: ‘We said we wouldn’t go ahead. It just isn’t safe’Opens in new window ]Embassies and consulates have been ordered to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants as the US state department prepares to expand social media vetting of foreign students.Travel firms who help to administer J1 visas for Irish students said the vast majority of students have had their applications processed, while those with scheduled interviews at the US embassy are exempt from the pause.