New U.S. rules for foreign travellers to kick in Friday as lawsuit rejected

A new U.S. rule that will require foreign nationals, including Canadian snowbirds, visiting for 30 days or more to register is set to take effect Friday after a lawsuit aimed at stopping it was denied.

U.S. judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, denied the motion for a stay or preliminary injunction made in a lawsuit filed by the American Immigration Council in the District of Columbia.

“In sum, Plaintiffs are not likely to succeed on the merits of their claim because they have failed to demonstrate that they have a ‘substantial likelihood’ of standing,” McFadden wrote in his ruling.

The organization, joined by several other advocacy groups, had argued that the rule was “confusingly written and implementing it will cause chaos.”

The judge’s order effectively ensures the rule will take effect April 11 as scheduled.

In an email to Global News, the American Immigration Council said it was “disappointed” with the ruling.

“The case will continue,” said Emma Winger, deputy director of litigation. “We remain very concerned that the new registration requirement will cause fear and confusion. Among other things, we are very worried that this new rule, which requires millions of people to always carry specific immigration documents and present them to law enforcement on demand, will open the door to harassment and discrimination.”

The interim final rule was posted to the U.S. Federal Register last month and said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) were amending regulations to “designate a new registration for aliens to comply with statutory alien registration and fingerprinting provisions.”

The rule notes that under current regulations, “Many Canadian nonimmigrants for business or pleasure are not issued a Form I-94 even though they have not been registered through the visa process.”

It goes on to say the unregistered population covered by this registration rule, estimated to be between 2.2 million and 3.2 million people, includes “Canadian visitors who entered the United States at land ports of entry and were not issued evidence of registration (eg. Form I-94).”

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In its argument to the court in response to the lawsuit, the Trump administration said they were simply enforcing an already existing requirement for everyone in the country who wasn’t an American citizen to register with the government.

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Under the new rule, Canadians planning to cross the border for an extended stay of a month or more will have to register by filling out the new G-325R form if they fall under those not registered — a status that can be checked on the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) I-94 website.

If you haven’t been registered, people are urged to create an account on the USCIS website and register with the new form.

Canadians have in the past been able to visit the U.S. for six months without a visa, though they must declare their intended duration of stay upon entry, according to the federal government. The interim rule changes that, a fact the American Immigration Council questioned in its suit.

The complaint was filed by the American Immigration Council, alongside the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, United Farm Workers of America, CASA, Inc., and Make the Road New York. DHS, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, USCIS, Immigration and Customs (ICE), CBP, the Department of Justice and other officials were named as defendants.

The lawsuit asks for a judge to issue a preliminary injunction or a stay against the rule to prevent it from taking effect on Friday.

The groups said the rule “fails to consider the impact of the new universal scheme on communities that rely on the revenue from the Canadian retirees who travel to the United States every winter.”

It also notes that Canada issued a travel advisory warning of the upcoming registration requirements.

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Those retirees, and other Canadians escaping the cold, amount to about one million “snowbirds,” according to the Canadian Snowbirds Association.

Data has also shown that Canadian travel to the U.S. has declined, with fewer vehicles crossing at the Peace Arch in B.C. in the final weeks of March compared with the same period the year prior.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data also shows that in February of this year, the most recent data collected, 2.2 million passenger vehicles passed through at U.S. land borders compared with 2.7 million vehicles in February 2024.

The U.S. Travel Association warned in early February that even a 10 per cent reduction in Canadian travel could mean US$2.1 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses, with about two million fewer visits.

The American Immigration Council says the injunction could still be issued even after the rule is implemented, but as of Thursday morning, it was still awaiting a ruling.

Global News reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment on the lawsuit but did not hear back by publication.

–with files from the Association Press