A CBP agent in Miami allegedly threatened to hold a phone indefinitely unless its owner handed it over.
Thomas Kennedy, an Argentinian-American writer and immigration advocate, says a Customs and Border Protection agent searched his bags, questioned him about his books and magazines, and then demanded his phone when he reentered the United States at Miami International Airport this month. Kennedy says the agent warned that refusing would mean a much longer interrogation and the possibility of losing the phone indefinitely. He handed it over. He is now suing the federal government, asking a court to order the deletion of any data copied from the device.
This isn't a hypothetical edge case. Courts have long held that the usual warrant requirement doesn't apply at the border, leaving travelers with little leverage against an agent's demand. Kennedy's advocacy work raises the stakes: a phone holds contacts, messages, and files that could expose sources or collaborators, not just vacation photos.
Until a judge or Congress says otherwise, the practical advice for crossing the border with any device worth protecting hasn't changed: assume it can be searched, and plan accordingly.