..not only this airport nightmare, you'd need to be prepared to part with your mobile phone while they run their scanners to do a check on you, failing to meet their 'criteria' could mean being sent home (see below)
Air travel nightmare. Total meltdown at Newark Liberty Airport. 8 hours to get baggage. 12 hours on the tarmac. Travelers delayed for days. Aviation experts say be prepared for this to keep happening. https://x.com/CeFaanKim/status/1917360145127899580
Entering the U.S. as a traveler feels riskier than ever.
Following Donald Trump’s executive order for “enhanced vetting” in security screenings, U.S. border officials are empowered to use aggressive tactics at ports of entry like airports. In recent days, there have been alarming cases of legal immigrants and tourists who are being denied entry and detained in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In one recent high-profile case, a French scientist who was traveling to Houston on his way to a conference was allegedly denied entry by Customs and Border Patrol over phone messages that criticized Trump’s science policies, according to France’s minister for higher education.
The Department of Homeland Security has denied that the scientist’s removal was based on his political beliefs. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for Homeland Security, said the unnamed French scientist got denied entry because his device had “confidential information” from Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Nevertheless, it seems that these days securing your electronics before a trip should be as important as deciding which clothes to pack on vacation ― especially if you are traveling to the U.S. right now.
This month, Germany and the U.K. have even updated their travel advisories, warning their citizens that they could be liable to arrest or detention for breaking U.S. rules, and that legal permits do not guarantee entry into the United States.
“Have a plan before you travel, because you don’t want to be in the situation where you’re running late for a flight, you find yourself in secondary [screening], and you’re just like, ‘Oh, my God, I have to make this next flight, and I don’t know what to do besides comply,’” explained Saira Hussain, a senior staff attorney at Electronic Frontier Foundation who has represented travelers whose electronic devices were searched without warrants at a U.S. border.
No matter if you are a U.S. citizen, a visa holder or a foreign visitor traveling to Las Vegas on spring break, know what your rights are if a border agent asks to see your phone. Yes, CBP can search your phone.
The U.S. government asserts that it has the ability to lawfully inspect phones, laptops and other types of electronic devices that cross U.S. borders.
“Any electronic device you own, including phones, laptops and tablets, can be checked at the border. Sometimes this means that customs officers will look at your device as is, but it can also involve trying to download its data,” said Petra Molnar, lawyer and author of “The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
Customs and Border Protection says searches of electronic devices are rare. In 2024, the federal agency reported 42,725 basic searches and 4,322 advanced searches on predominantly people who were not U.S. citizens. Under a basic search, a border agent physically inspects your phone and reviews what they can, while an advanced search means the agent can potentially download all of your files using an external device.
Who is deemed suspicious enough to necessitate an electronics search can vary. The American Civil Liberties Union has represented a military veteran, an artist, a NASA engineer, journalists, Muslims and people of color who had their devices searched at a border. A 2017 NBC News investigation found 25 cases where border agents directed U.S. citizens, nearly all Muslim, to hand over their phones at border crossings.
What generally happens in these searches is that a person is pulled into secondary screening and a border official may ask to search your phone, Hussain explained.
“They are supposed to put the phone into airplane mode before they start to search it,” Hussain said. “They’re not supposed to be looking at cloud-based applications, like they’re not supposed to be looking at your Facebook account.” But she noted that there have been reports of travelers having their social media profiles searched.
And if this search happens once, it might be more likely to happen again. In a case she petitioned to the Supreme Court, Hussain found that “if you have been pulled into secondary [screening] once, that it’s flagged in their databases, and it makes it more likely that you’re going to be pulled into secondary another time when you re-enter the country.”
You do not have to share your phone’s password, but there are risks and consequences if you refuse.
You are not required to share your password to unlock your phone, but refusing could affect your travel plans or your access to your technology.
The consequences for refusing to comply can be more severe, depending on your immigration status.
If you’re a U.S. citizen, a customs officer cannot bar you from entering the country, even if you refuse to provide access to your electronic device. You can state, “I do not give you permission to search my device,” and you should still be able to enter the U.S., but your phone might get taken. “What they can do is potentially seize your device, and that can last anywhere from weeks to months,” Hussain said.
If you are a green card holder, you generally have the same rights as a U.S. citizen upon entry to the U.S., with some exceptions. Hussain said green card holders that have been outside of the U.S. for more than six months may be seen as applying for readmission rather than traveling on the green card, which might jeopardize their ability to reenter the country. Green cards in general cannot be revoked without a hearing before an immigration judge.
Visa holders face more legal risks. Molnar calls these electronics searches “an invasion of privacy” but notes that “if you are a visa holder and you refuse, you may be denied entry into the United States.”
Hussain said people who are traveling on a tourist visa are “in the least protected category,” and their visa can be revoked if they refuse a search of their device. How to secure your electronics in case they are searched by U.S. border agent.
“Some people will say, ‘What’s the problem, I have nothing to hide.’ But the right to privacy is not just about avoiding scrutiny of wrongdoing,” Molnar said. “Widespread surveillance leads to abuses of power, discrimination, and the stifling of the freedom of expression.” Border Patrol Is Searching Phones: What Travelers Should Know | HuffPost Life
