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Trump Administration Sued Over Phone Searches at US Borders (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on from the fighting-back dept.

The Trump administration has engaged in an unconstitutional practice of searching without a warrant the phones and laptops of Americans who are stopped at the border, a lawsuit filed on Wednesday alleged. From a report: Ten U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident sued the Department of Homeland Security in federal court, saying the searches and prolonged confiscation of their electronic devices violate privacy and free speech protections of the U.S. Constitution. DHS could not be immediately reached for comment. The lawsuit comes as the number of searches of electronic devices has surged in recent years, alarming civil rights advocates.

14 of 138 comments (clear)

  1. Started with Obama, continued with Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    "An NBC News investigation published in March turned up 25 instances in which American citizens said border agents demanded their phones and passwords at airports and border crossings. Cellphone seizures by border officers are said to have spiked significantly in recent years, at the end of the Obama administration and beginning of the Trump administration. "

    http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/350449-dhs-sued-over-warrantless-electronic-device-searches-at-border

    1. Re:Started with Obama, continued with Trump by evolutionary · · Score: 1, Informative

      Actually, in the first 6 months of this year there was far greater use is the Bush administration created policy to search people's devices without warrant at the border. The Trump administration is by far the biggest spike, so much so it's gotten a LOT of attention lately. Trump has no sense of balance of discretion so many things set up by previous presidents unnoticed are probably getting noticed (and will be) this year.

      --
      "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
    2. Re:Started with Obama, continued with Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      As they should be. If it's the law or standard practice, it should be enforced so that it shines light on it and if negative, is changed through legislation, eventually stopping this discretionary enforcement that's been going on as the executive branch changes parties.

      We already have the necessary legislation, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized", it just isn't being enforced within 100 miles of the border.

    3. Re:Started with Obama, continued with Trump by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Trump administration is by far the biggest spike,

      The biggest spike? Let's see, a quick Google shows it spiked from 2560 in October 2016 to...2595 in March 2017.

      Note that both of those numbers are about triple the number for October 2015.

      A few more quick Googles, and I find that, while the problem has gotten a lot more media attention since Trump became President, the problem started back after 9/11, and has continued a steady rise during both the last two Administrations, with essentially no change since Trump got the job (no change, in this case, means the trends have pretty much continued, almost like it was being done by the bureaucracy, rather than the policymakers)....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  2. In other words... by CajunArson · · Score: 2, Informative

    The Trump administration is basically continuing practices that were commonly done when God-Emperor Obama reigned over us in all His Holy Gloriousness.

    Yet again proving that Trump is worse that Hitler and that the Russians did it.

    --
    AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
    1. Re:In other words... by evolutionary · · Score: 3, Informative

      You are partially right. This little exception clause in the law saw done by the Bush (senior I believe) administration and continued by every president since him, so no one is innocent. What IS noteworthy is that it was actually more in the first 6 months of this year than in the combined years of the other previous presidents, so the Trump administration is responsible for using this privilege to an excessive extent.

      --
      "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein
    2. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      What IS noteworthy is that it was actually more in the first 6 months of this year than in the combined years of the other previous presidents, so the Trump administration is responsible for using this privilege to an excessive extent.

      Is that liberal math you are using? FTA;

      U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported in April that searches increased from 8,500 in fiscal year 2015 to about 19,000 in fiscal year 2016. The agency has conducted nearly 15,000 in the first half of fiscal year 2017.

    3. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Slashdot did this during the Bush Administration too.

      If the federal government was doing it and it was bad - it was "The Bush Administration" - if it was doing something good - it was the executive organization that did it (justice department, FBI, EPA, etc)

      As soon as the Obama Administration came in the script was flipped - if it was bad it was the exective organization and if it was good then it was Obama himself doing it.

    4. Re:In other words... by mpercy · · Score: 4, Informative

      Bush didn't need any help. It was overwhelming passed by Congress, all he had to do was ask for it and sign it.

      These are the 98 U.S. senators for voted in favor of the US Patriot Act of 2001 (Senator Landrieu (D-LA) did not vote) Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin was the only senator who voted against the Patriot Act on October 24, of 2001.

      http://educate-yourself.org/cn...

      Very few of the Democrats in the Senate learned their lesson, and so voted to reauthorize it by close to the same numbers in 2006, and Obama signed off on at least one more renewal (I've lost track).

      The list of two-time Yeas includes Hillary Cllnton, Chris Dodd, Ted Kennedy, Barbara Boxer, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Rockefeller, Sarbane, both Nelsons, Diane Feinstein, Max Baucus, Joe Lieberman, ...

      The House was a tad better as far as Dems voting Nay, it passed the House 357-66 in 2001 and 280-138 in 2006.

  3. Suing "Trump Administration" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    What does this have to do with Trump Administration, is the Donald searching these phones personally? Is DHS doing something they have never done before solely on orders from Trump? I guess you gotta put 'Trump' in the headline for them clicks

  4. Re:Nope by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 5, Informative

    That's probably why they filed in Massachusetts, which is part of the First Circuit Court of Appeals. If they win in the trial and appellate courts, there will then be a split of authority between the First Circuit and the Fourth and Ninth Circuits, which have held the search of electronic devices at the border to be constitutional (subject to minor constraints). The odds then go up considerably that the Supreme Court will grant certiorari to resolve the circuit split.

  5. Started with Bush, Expanded by Obama & Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Border Officers Nearly Double Searches of Electronic Devices, U.S. Says

    The policy of searching cellphones and other electronic devices at the border started in the George W. Bush administration with a focus on specific individuals, but the searches have recently [as of 11 April 2017] expanded to include broad ranges of people who do not pose a threat.

  6. Re:Started with Bush, Expanded by Obama & Trum by green1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    This has nothing to do with any specific president.

    As soon as people started carrying electronic devices across the border, they started having them searched.

    The problem isn't that electronic devices are being searched at the border. The problem is this ridiculous notion that the laws that apply everywhere else in the country shouldn't also apply at the borders of the country, And that's something that happened so long ago that I don't know if anyone even remembers who the idiot was who thought that was either a good idea, or consistent with the constitution.

  7. Re:I was under the impression that the government. by John+Jorsett · · Score: 5, Informative

    not only are they not immune to lawsuits

    Err, yes, they are immune to lawsuits.

    That applies to tortious acts and contract matters. The government isn't immune to suits regarding infringement of freedoms, failure to disclose information that it's obligated to disclose, etc. Think of how many ACLU lawsuits there have been, for example.