In an age where the data of an entire life can be held in the palm of your hand, a fundamental question has emerged about rights to digital privacy when crossing international borders: Can U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers demand access to your phone or laptop at airports and seaports?
The short answer is yes, and this applies to citizens and noncitizens alike. But there are many layered steps travelers can take to protect themselves.
The question has become increasingly worrisome as the Trump administration pushes a hard-line policy to deport millions of immigrants and foreign nationals in the United States, including students and professors with visas and green cards who’ve been targeted for expressing political views that run contrary to the administration.
Last week, an American lawyer was detained at an airport in Detroit when Customs officers demanded to see his mobile phone, presumably because he represented a University of Michigan student who participated in a pro-Palestinian protest on campus.
Last month, a French scientist traveling for an academic conference was denied entry into the United States after Customs officers at the Houston airport searched his phone and found messages in which he was critical of the Trump administration, according to officials in France.
And in late March, several European countries and Canada began warning their citizens who travel to the United States to follow the country’s entry rules or risk detention as the Trump administration cracks down on immigration enforcement. Ireland, The Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland and Canada updated their guidelines after some travelers were detained by U.S. immigration officials.
Unlike inside the country, where Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches are more robust, the U.S. border operates under what’s known as the “border search exception.” This means that border agents don’t need a warrant under any circumstances or even suspicion for a “basic” manual search of your electronic devices.
However, according to Customs and Border Protection, an “advanced” search requires “reasonable suspicion of a violation of law or a national security concern,” along with approval of a senior manager, before agents can use external equipment to gain access to a device and review, copy and analyze its content.
Regina de Moraes, a Miami immigration attorney who has practiced law for 23 years, said she works between South Florida and South America and travels frequently. Even as a U.S. citizen, she said she has taken precautions with her electronic devices since the Trump administration has launched its immigration crackdown.
“I have taken different measures with my data and electronics with this new administration, something that I have never had to fear,” de Moraes told the Miami Herald.
“I also believe that since I have been outspoken and I represent exactly the type of individuals this administration wants to deport, I can be a target the next time I travel,” she said. “But this will not dissuade me from continuing to fight for people’s rights and due process.”
In her experience, CBP searches of electronic devices at airports have traditionally focused on suspicion of criminal activity, but they also include:
— Tourists suspected of coming to work here illegally
— Green card holders whose ex-wives inform authorities that their ex-husbands are involved in child porn or tax evasion
— People coming from a country where prostitution is legal
— Businessmen who have investments abroad and in the United States
— Visitors known to have committed crimes in their native countries
As Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have arrested foreign college students with visas and green cards over their views supporting Hamas against Israel, the Trump administration has zeroed in on social media commentary on mobile phones and other electronic devices.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security said it was going to start gathering social media activity from non-U.S. citizens, such as foreign students, on their mobile phones and other devices, targeting “antisemitic” speech that runs contrary to U.S. policy supporting Israel.
But CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham said Customs’ officers at airports and seaports are not using “political beliefs” as a basis for conducting searches of travelers’ phones and other devices.
“Allegations that political beliefs trigger inspections or removals are baseless and irresponsible,” Beckham said in a statement provided to the Herald.
Before Trump returned to office, Beckham was communications director for the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank that developed policies for President Donald Trump’s second administration.
What types of searches are there?
There are two types of electronic device searches that can be done: a “basic” and “advanced” search, according to the CBP website.
The basic search “generally entails an officer reviewing the contents of the device manually without the assistance of external equipment.”
The advanced search would require a Customs officer to use external equipment to gain access to the device and review, copy and analyze its content. This type of search requires “reasonable suspicion of a violation of law enforced or administered by CBP or a national security concern and require the approval of a senior manager.”
Sophia Cope, a senior attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focused on civil rights in the digital age, said the policies are vague because they allow searches of travelers’ devices even when there’s no direct suspicion of the traveler. Instead, the suspicion might be tied to someone the traveler knows—like a client, colleague, or family member.
“People might think, ‘Oh, I don’t have anything to hide or whatever.’ Okay, that’s fine, but maybe you’re associated with someone who is under government scrutiny. That’s a problem,” Cope said.
Michigan attorney detained at Detroit airport
A Michigan-based civil rights attorney recently made headlines after Customs officers detained him on April 6 at Detroit’s airport and pressured him to turn over his phone. He had been returning from a spring break trip with his family in the Dominican Republic.
Amir Makled, a U.S. citizen born in Detroit, says he was targeted for representing a pro-Palestine student protester who was arrested at a demonstration at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor last year.
The officers never explained to him what they were looking for or why he was being stopped, Makled told news organizations. The officers told the lawyer that he could either unlock his phone voluntarily or that they would confiscate it and look through it themselves, he said.
After consulting with a supervisor, one of the CBP officers returned and said he planned to take away Makled’s phone unless the lawyer gave up the list of contacts on it. Makled said he felt he had no choice but to turn it over.
After downloading and browsing his contacts, the CBP officer asked Makled about certain names. He refused to divulge any more information. As a U.S. citizen, he was eventually allowed to enter the country.
Brown University professor denied reentry
De Moraes, the Miami immigration lawyer, said she’s not aware of colleagues who have had their cell phones or computers checked upon returning to the United States, including Miami International Airport. But as a precaution, she said many of her colleagues are putting their data in drop boxes in the cloud or buying secondary cheap phones for travel, so their text messages and emails cannot be scrutinized during a border search.
“I think when it comes to attorneys, CBP officers know that they have the right to search our devices, but they tread more carefully with attorneys due to the pesky little nuance in our law of ‘attorney-client privilege,’ ” de Moraes said.
While the lawyer in Detroit enjoyed the benefit of being a U.S. citizen, noncitizens don’t receive the same treatment.
Last month, a Lebanese professor at Brown University with a visa was denied entry at Boston’s Logan International Airport after border agents found a photo of a slain Hezbollah leader on her phone. The professor, Rasha Alawieh, was returning from a trip to Lebanon where she had attended the leader’s funeral.
Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist, had an H-1B visa, which allows highly skilled foreign citizens to live and work in the United States. But the doctor was deported despite a federal judge’s order barring her removal from the country.
‘Claims are false’
CBP, which is responsible for securing the nation’s airports and seaports, said speculation that the agency has increased searches of travelers’ mobile phones and other electronic devices under the Trump administration is unfounded.
“Claims that CBP is searching more electronic media due to the administration change are false,” Beckham said.
“CBP’s search numbers are consistent with increases since 2021, and less than 0.01% of travelers have their devices searched,” Beckham said. “These searches are conducted to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to visitor admissibility, all of which play a critical role in national security.”
Customs officers conducted border searches on the electronic devices of 47,047 travelers in fiscal year 2024, which ended Sept. 30, representing fewer than 0.01% of all arriving international travelers at ports of entry, according to CBP.
Of the 47,047 searches, 90% were basic searches without using external equipment to review, copy and/or analyze the contents — a pattern of inspections consistent with CBP data since 2020. That same rate has continued through the latest quarter ending March 31, 2025, during the first three months of the Trump administration, CBP data shows.
CBP was asked if the agency could break down the electronic search data by airport and seaport on a regional basis and by type, such as suspected drug smuggling, terrorism activity, possession of child porn or speech-related violations?
CBP officials said: “The information requested is law enforcement sensitive and not releasable to the public.”
