Can US border agents freely search travelers’ phones, tablets, laptops, and other electronic devices without a warrant? Court papers show that they’ve been doing just that. But what the ACLU calls “broad and unconstitutional powers” may be coming to an end.
A federal district court in New York sided with human rights groups, ruling that the U.S. Border Patrol must obtain a warrant before searching these devices.
“As courts have recognized, warrantless searches of electronic devices at the border are an unjustified intrusion into travelers’ private expression, personal friendships, and journalistic activities — activities that the First and Fourth Amendments are designed to protect.” Scott Wilkens, senior counsel at the Knight First Amendment Institute, said in a press release.“This decision makes clear that Border Patrol agents need a warrant to access what the Supreme Court has called a ‘window into private lives.'”
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The ruling came after U.S. citizen Kurbonali Sultanov was arrested at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport for “possible purchaser or possession of child sexual abuse material.” Authorities allegedly found four videos on his phone after border patrol officers asked him to provide his phone password without a warrant. Kurbonali Sultanov argued that the search violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
The court “The search of Sultanov’s phone violates the Fourth Amendment, which requires a warrant and probable cause for searches of phone devices at the border. However, because the government acted under a ‘good faith exception to the exclusionary rule,’ the Court denies the suppression of evidence.”
