A good faith interpretation of what they said wouldn't include projecting fear-mongering politics into their meaning.
The monoculture thing came only from you.
"do you think the US is a monoculture?" implying that the commenter does think that, and that that thought is ignorant and absurd. Instead of asking what they are referring to so you can discuss the point they're making.
What fear mongering politics? The commenter is obviously talking about the reported cases of people being detained, deported, and harassed for their political views.
Which now includes a possibility of getting detained while trying to enter.
The border crossing is the first experience that you get from a country. It has definitely gone worse. And it was not great to begin with.
In the past, I had the ... pleasure ... of being put in the "back room" for 3 hours after a long transatlantic flight at SFO. I was not afraid then, just annoyed and tired. I would be afraid now and I would rather avoid it. There's many other places I can choose to visit.
