Court Says US Border Agents Must Have a Warrant to Search Your Phone

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Key Takeaways

  • A federal court has ruled that border agents need warrants for phone searches.
  • The approach allegedly violates Fourth and First Amendment rights.
  • This could change border official policy.

A US federal court in New York State has determined that border agents have to obtain a warrant to search your phone or other devices when you’re crossing the border.

The ruling only applies to the US Eastern District of New York, but that includes major airports like JFK and LaGuardia.

The decision came in response to the case of citizen Kurbonali Sultanov. JFK border agents took his phone in March 2022 and demanded his password to conduct a search of the device. Sultanov refused at first, but obeyed when the agents claimed he had no choice.

Law enforcement charged Sultanov over alleged evidence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), but he asked to suppress the evidence on grounds that the airport search violated Fourth Amendment rights protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures.

The court denied the motion to suppress after finding that agents weren’t acting on bad faith, but did say the search infringed on Fourth Amendment rights. It also decided that these searches tread on First Amendment free speech rights. In other situations Columbia University’s Knight Institute recorded for a 2017 suit against Homeland Security, there was evidence of “discriminatory, demeaning, and gratuitously intrusive” searches that infringed on privacy.

The approach stifled press freedom by threatening to reveal journalists’ sources, the court in that case said.

If the Sultanov ruling applies elsewhere, it could force US Customs and Border Protection to revise its policy nationwide. The government has maintained that the border, as a transitional space, gives agents more powers to search devices. Now, they may need warrants (and thus a suspicion of wrongdoing) to take action.

Members of Congress have failed to pass bills requiring warrants for border searches before. This finding could effectively negate the need for legislation, although it might reach appeals courts and the Supreme Court if the government keeps fighting.