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.