Donald Trump and Phil Goff. Photo: AFP / RNZ
Phil Goff, sacked as UK high commissioner for comments he made about the US president, thinks he could be blocked from getting into the United States under new entry proposals.
Tourists from dozens of countries who can travel without a visa could have to hand over five years worth of their social media.
It is a new condition for using an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) and has appeared in the Federal Register, the official journal of the US government.
"It's almost like we're going back in history to the 1950s, the days of McCarthyism, where if you had ever been a member of the Communist Party you were banned from getting into the United States," Goff told RNZ.
Current Foreign Minister Winston Peters ejected Goff from his high commissioner role in March after comments at a Chatham House event.
"Do you really think he really understands history?" he said of US President Donald Trump.
He later said he did not regret his comments and would do it again.
A month later he called Trump an abusive bully, and said the United States was no longer a trusted ally.
In the wake of the proposed new entry requirements, he told RNZ he believed he would have issues getting into the US.
"It's heavily ironic that I've been banned from Russia for criticising its actions in Ukraine, and now maybe proscribed entry to the United States being critical of a number of things that the Trump administration has done."
For Goff, the issue is personal - he had family members in the US serving in the military.
"Four of my nephews have served in the United States Army in senior positions, some still serving, and one of them was killed in Afghanistan," he said.
"I suspected even before this latest announcement that I may be prevented from gaining entry at the border because of the Trump administration's attitude to anyone who criticises it."
Goff said it was highly ironic the Trump administration had criticised European countries for putting restrictions on neo-Nazi organisations in the name of free speech.
"And yet is doing exactly the same thing to others that might criticise what their government and administration is doing in the United States," he said. "That's frankly hypocritical."
Goff said there was a clear implication from the plans - that there is the prospect of denied entry for people who have been critical of Donald Trump or Israel.
"Look, the United States is meant to be a democracy, but if it's banning people because they're critical of the government of the day, that is quite contrary to the basic principles of free speech."
The US Embassy in New Zealand, responding to a request for RNZ, was not able to comment.
What the plans say
Feedback is being sought from the public and agencies, according to a document on the Federal Register.
It said this was to comply with an earlier executive order centred on protecting the US from terrorists and national and public safety threats.
It does not list what officials would look for in posts.
Other new requirements would be listing phone numbers used for the last five years, and email addresses from the past decade.
A social media requirement has been part of tourist visa applications since 2019. However, residents of visa-exempt countries have been able to apply for an ESTA on which the provision of social media history was optional.
In June, student visa applicants were directed to make their social media profiles public, so as to be more readily scrutinised by US officials assessing their application.
The impending change to tourist visa requirements has also raised fears it will lead to soccer fans being turned away from the World Cup. It is being hosted by the United States along with Mexico and Canada in 2026.
- Additional reporting AFP / ABC
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