Is it legal for CBP to search your cell phone at the U.S. border?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

magine just landing from an international flight, exhausted, ready to start your visit or return home. As you reach customs, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer asks to see your phone. Not just a glance, they want to go through your messages, photos, and even social media apps. You pause because you think to yourself, "there's no way this can be legal".

Surprisingly, yes. Under current U.S. policy, CBP officers are allowed to search your electronic devices, including smartphones, laptops and tablets, without a warrant when you enter the country. And while it’s rare, it does happen. In fact, some high-profile incidents have sparked growing concern and confusion about what rights travelers really have when crossing the border.

So what’s really going on here?

The legal loophole at the border
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. But, according to the federal government, the border is different. Courts have long held that routine searches at U.S. entry points don't require a warrant, and that includes digital devices. CBP says it has the authority to inspect electronics as a matter of national security.

https://creators.yahoo.com/lifestyle/story/is-it-legal-for-cbp-to-search-your-cell-phone-at-the-us-border-152328499.html

[LiberalArkie]

1. No Democratic administration has ever stopped them, I guess did not want to appear weak on borders

[dalton99a]

2. Electronic devices have been searched and seized for years

https://www.nbcnews.com/technolog/feds-target-us-travelers-seize-laptops-border-new-files-detail-8c11118663

Feds target US travelers and seize laptops at border, new files detail
Sept. 10, 2013, 8:30 AM CDT
By Anne Flaherty

Newly disclosed U.S. government files provide an inside look at the Homeland Security Department's practice of seizing and searching electronic devices at the border without showing reasonable suspicion of a crime or getting a judge's approval.

The documents published Monday describe the case of David House, a young computer programmer in Boston who had befriended Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning, the soldier convicted of giving classified documents to WikiLeaks. U.S. agents quietly waited for months for House to leave the country then seized his laptop, thumb drive, digital camera and cellphone when he re-entered the United States. They held his laptop for weeks before returning it, acknowledging one year later that House had committed no crime and promising to destroy copies the government made of House's personal data.

The government turned over the federal records to House as part of a legal settlement agreement after a two-year court battle with the American Civil Liberties Union, which had sued the government on House's behalf. The ACLU said the records suggest that federal investigators are using border crossings to investigate U.S. citizens in ways that would otherwise violate the Fourth Amendment.

President Barack Obama and his predecessors have maintained that people crossing into U.S. territory aren't protected by the Fourth Amendment. That policy is intended to allow for intrusive searches that keep drugs, child pornography and other illegal imports out of the country. But it also means the government can target travelers for no reason other than political advocacy if it wants, and obtain electronic documents identifying fellow supporters.

...

[usonian]

3. They aren't sticklers for law, so check out the EFF Border Search Guide I linked in my post.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10114091

Lots of good advice there, but my more specific post on border security is here:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20165635

[al_liberal]

4. The BS if it all is the 100 mile zone.

100 miles from any us border is a constitution free zone.

[k_buddy762]

5. Yes. It is legal.

[Jeebo]

6. In May 2016, I was detained at the Detroit airport.

They searched my cell phone, laptop computer and thumb drives, and rummaged through my luggage. They noticed my passport stamps from Thailand and Colombia and suspected I had been visiting those places to have sex with 12-year-olds. I told them that if I wanted to have sex with 12-year-olds, I wouldn't go to Thailand; I would go to Cambodia. I've heard tales about that place, I said. They didn't take my word for that and went through all my stuff anyway. There was no child porn or any other kind of contraband among my things, but I had to wait two or three hours while they searched, and I missed my flight. They gave me all my stuff back and put me on a later flight.

Yes, they can go through your things when you re-enter the country.

— Ron

[Meowmee]

7. Yes at the borders they can do a lot

too much and nothing to police them really.

[lindysalsagal]

8. It's possible to refuse a search of your phone, but they'll keep it, possibly for weeks or months.

I've decided to delete my email app entirely just in case, and let them search it.