On the other hand, the actual conversations I hear my friends having about business-trips to US are more stressed than conversation my dad used to have with my mom when he was traveling to do business for banks in India, Pakistan or Russia decade or two ago.
I would not be afraid to go to Russia two decades ago. It was fairly safe, unless you did something stupid. Going there now would be profoundly stupid.
My friends travelled to India two decades ago as tourists, it was fairly normal thing to do.
I suspect that much of the hysteria surrounding the tightening of border controls is a result of selective reporting. We weren't bombarded with articles about people being sent to secondary inspection or denied entry prior to this year. I travel internationally a fair bit and was also nervous traveling into the US this year, but having gone through multiple times now, I haven't seen any change in the process aside from the supporting documentation for my (rather uncommon) visa being looked at more systematically than before. That said, this change in entry requirements sounds like a substantial step up.
> I suspect that much of the hysteria surrounding the tightening of border controls is a result of selective reporting.
A >0.01% chance of being indefinitely detained and eventually deported/expelled is actually a risk that people are rational to consider when traveling to the US. Low probability * extremely high penalty = medium risk.
The fact that <99.99% of travel is routine does not change that calculation.
On the other hand, the actual conversations I hear my friends having about business-trips to US are more stressed than conversation my dad used to have with my mom when he was traveling to do business for banks in India, Pakistan or Russia decade or two ago.