Returning from vacation? The government can search your phone without a warrant.
Returning from vacation? The government can search your phone without a warrant.
度假归来？政府无需搜查令即可检查你的手机。
An Argentinian-American writer and immigration advocate recently sued the federal government, demanding that it delete data that he believes was copied off of his phone when he re-entered the United States earlier this month. 一位阿根廷裔美国作家兼移民权益倡导者近日起诉了联邦政府，要求其删除他认为在月初重返美国时被从手机中复制的数据。
According to the seven-page complaint, Thomas Kennedy said that a Customs and Border Protection agent at Miami International Airport physically searched his bags, questioned him about his books and magazines, and then demanded that he hand over his phone. 根据这份七页的诉状，托马斯·肯尼迪（Thomas Kennedy）称，迈阿密国际机场的一名海关及边境保卫局（CBP）探员对他进行了搜包检查，询问了他携带的书籍和杂志，随后要求他交出手机。
“[The agent] threatened me, saying that if I didn’t give him my phone, my interrogation was going to take much longer and they could retain my phone indefinitely,” Kennedy wrote. “I felt like I had no choice, so I handed my phone to the CBP agent.” “（那名探员）威胁我，说如果我不交出手机，审讯时间会延长很多，而且他们可以无限期扣留我的手机，”肯尼迪写道。“我觉得自己别无选择，所以把手机交给了CBP探员。”
The agent took the phone away and only returned after approximately 45 minutes, during which Kennedy believes that data on the phone was copied. He was then released with no charges. 探员拿走手机，约45分钟后才归还。肯尼迪认为在此期间，手机里的数据已被复制。随后，他在未受任何指控的情况下被释放。
The activist says there is a significant amount of sensitive personal and professional information on his phone, and he is now seeking that the government delete this data. He collaborates with multiple nonprofit groups, including the Florida Immigration Coalition, Amnesty International and the Community Justice Project. 这位活动人士表示，他的手机里存有大量敏感的个人和职业信息，他现在要求政府删除这些数据。他与多个非营利组织有合作，包括佛罗里达移民联盟（Florida Immigration Coalition）、国际特赦组织（Amnesty International）和社区正义项目（Community Justice Project）。
He now believes that he was targeted for this work, in part because he was asked repeatedly what he did for a living and if he was an immigration attorney. “I believe CBP flagged me because of my organizing and political work around immigrants’ rights in Florida,” he wrote in his court filing. 他现在认为自己是因为这些工作而成为目标，部分原因是探员反复询问他的职业，以及他是否是一名移民律师。“我相信CBP将我标记出来，是因为我在佛罗里达州围绕移民权利所做的组织和政治工作，”他在法庭文件中写道。
“This isn’t the first time that law enforcement targeted and harassed me because of my political viewpoint: in 2021, after speaking out against Governor [Ron] DeSantis, the Miami Police were surveilling me and barring me from press conferences.” “这已经不是执法部门第一次因为我的政治观点而针对并骚扰我了：2021年，在我公开反对州长[罗恩]·德桑蒂斯（Ron DeSantis）后，迈阿密警方对我进行了监视，并禁止我参加新闻发布会。”
Border search exemption
边境搜查豁免权
Federal courts have long-recognized a “border exception” to the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, where people, bags, and electronic devices can be searched without a warrant. 联邦法院长期以来承认美国宪法第四修正案存在“边境例外”原则，即在边境，人员、行李和电子设备无需搜查令即可被检查。
Kennedy’s story is reminiscent of a 2017 incident at San Francisco Airport, where a local artist explained to Ars how border agents there allegedly threatened to “be dicks” if he did not hand over his phone. 肯尼迪的遭遇让人想起2017年发生在旧金山机场的一起事件，当时一位当地艺术家向《Ars Technica》讲述了边境探员如何威胁他，称如果他不交出手机就会“找麻烦”（be dicks）。
On its website, CBP states that it can copy such data “if there is probable cause to believe that the information contains evidence of a violation of law that CBP is authorized to enforce or administer” or “if the information relates to immigration, customs, or other enforcement matters.” CBP在其网站上声明，如果“有正当理由相信相关信息包含CBP有权执行或管理的违法证据”，或者“如果信息涉及移民、海关或其他执法事项”，他们可以复制此类数据。
CBP says that such searches of electronic devices are very rare. “In [Fiscal Year] 2025, out of the over 419 million travelers CBP processed at ports of entry, CBP only searched the electronic devices of 55,318 international travelers,” the agency wrote, or 0.0013%. CBP表示，此类对电子设备的搜查非常罕见。该机构写道：“在2025财年，CBP在入境口岸处理的超过4.19亿名旅客中，仅搜查了55,318名国际旅客的电子设备”，占比仅为0.0013%。
Still, Kennedy is angry about what happened to him. “CBP shouldn’t have been able to confiscate my phone, let alone copy its contents,” he wrote in the complaint. “I believe they did so to suppress my political speech.” 尽管如此，肯尼迪对自己的遭遇感到愤怒。“CBP本不应该没收我的手机，更不用说复制其中的内容了，”他在诉状中写道。“我相信他们这样做是为了压制我的政治言论。”