Overview

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) conducted nearly 47,000 electronic device searches in fiscal year 2024, with 36,500 involving non-U.S. citizens.
• Travelers from allied nations, including France, Germany, and Canada, report rising detentions and deportations tied to electronic device searches in recent weeks.
• Legal experts highlight inconsistent court rulings on warrantless device searches, with a federal judge previously ruling such searches unconstitutional at JFK Airport.
• Privacy advocates recommend travelers take precautions, such as using burner phones, deleting sensitive data, or uploading information to the cloud before travel.
• Governments like the UK have issued travel advisories warning citizens of potential detentions or deportations when entering the U.S.