Naturalized Citizen Challenges DHS Airport Searches

A federal lawsuit was just filed that challenges the DHS extensive airport searches without a warrant. There is a 2018 directive that gives CBP agents the power to search people within a 100-miles of a border. That “border exception” affects 228 million people, or two-thirds of our population.

These searches violate the 4th Amendment which states: "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."

According to the 15-page Complaint paragraph 4 (a link is in the press release linked below): "Wilmer was separated from his husband and taken to an isolated secondary screening area, where he was repeatedly pressured to hand over his laptop, smartphone, and tablet, along with his passwords. When he objected, he was told he had no Fourth Amendment rights at the border. Moreover, he was told he was behaving suspiciously simply by asserting those rights and refusing to consent to the device searches. His requests to contact his family and lawyer were denied during the detention."

I've been waiting for one of these cases to challenge these unlawful searches, because we have to protect our 4th Amendment and I don't agree that we give up our Constitutional rights just because we're near a border.

Here's a summary of the case by Pacific Legal Foundation who has taken the case pro bono publico (for the public good). Godspeed!