Senator Peters wants details about the searches of phones and laptops by customs at the border

U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is pressing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for information on the use of border searches on electronic devices, including details on what data is retained from these searches, how they are stored and who has access.

The senators’ letter seeks to understand how U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) use their authority to search for, download content from, and access sensitive information on the phones, laptops and other electronic devices of individuals. without command. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) also signed the letter.

“Both CBP and ICE claim broad authority under the border search exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement, which allows officers to conduct routine inspections and searches of all persons, including U.S. citizens, crossing the U.S. border without warrant, probable cause or reasonable suspicion,” wrote Senator Peters. “We are concerned that current policies and practices governing the search of electronic devices at the border deviate from the intended scope and application of the Border Search Authority.”

Senator Peters continued: “The ability of these agencies to inspect property at the border – or at locations considered functionally equivalent – ​​without a warrant, and under different legal standards than those applicable to law enforcement agencies without border search authority, is different. We specifically request information on how other agencies are using the border search authorities of CBP and ICE to access information about individuals’ electronic devices in situations where they would otherwise need to obtain a warrant.”

Americans who have had their devices searched, and civil rights and civil liberties organizations, have expressed concern that searching electronic devices – which contain large amounts of an individual’s personal information – without a warrant constitutes a significantly different circumstance than searching luggage or a vehicle at the border. Given the enormous amount of information on electronic devices, there are also concerns that the government has collected large amounts of personal data during these searches. The Senators are seeking information about these searches, how collected data is stored and shared, as well as the practices of other law enforcement agencies providing tips or recommendations to CBP and ICE that lead to these searches.

In his role as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has worked to increase transparency and fair treatment for all travelers in travel screening processes. Michiganders, including members of the Arab American and Muslim American communities, have raised concerns about ongoing and potentially discriminatory enhanced screening practices and a reported increase in secondary inspections of U.S. citizens at the Detroit Metro Airport involving searches of these electronic devices.

In 2023, Peters EditionD a report that identifies how airport screening practices that build on and extend beyond the terror watchlist have exploded over time and outlines reforms to strengthen our national security by improving and increasing trust in government screening practices. Peters also sent letterS to the Inspectors General (IGs) of the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Defense, State, and Treasury, and the Intelligence Community, requesting a coordinated review of the full implementation of the Terrorist Watch List.

At Peters’ urging, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) EditionD a 2022 report assessing the TSA’s travel screenings for discrimination and making recommendations for improvement. Peters hosted DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas in Dearborn to meet with leaders of Michigan’s Arab and Muslim American communities to discuss travel controls and other civil rights issues. Following that meeting, Customs and Border Protection established a new position to serve as the community relations liaison between the agency and Michigan’s Arab and Muslim American communities.

The text of the letter is available here.