Can US citizens be detained and searched at the border?
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You should have your U.S. passport with you as your proof of U.S. citizenship. As for searching of your mobile device, Customs and Border Protection does have the right to search devices at the border or port of entry. However, they cannot force you to enter your password. By contract, they can force you to put your fingerprint on the fingerprint scanner or use your face on the Face ID scanner. So, best practice is to disable Face ID, Touch ID, and similar features, and have your device locked only by an actual password.
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Traveling to Mexico with family. All are United States citizens. I’m still concerned.
I understand your concern about traveling to Mexico with your family. Are you worried about any specific issues or legal matters related to your trip?
I’m concerned about the Trump regime, detaining us and searching our telephones.
Have you encountered any difficulties or obstacles in planning your trip to Mexico that you would like the Lawyer to address?
I’ve had no concerns planning the trip. My concern is returning from Mexico to the United States. I’m concerned about unlawful detaining by people posing as federal agents.
Is there anything else the Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured they’ll be able to help with unlawful detaining concerns.
My adult children and I do not partake of illegal activities nor drugs or contraband. My adult children have a last name that is Armenian. My concern is that even though they are United States citizens, Bourne of them, mother from the United States, their father is Armenian from Armenia. We have been divorced For 27 years, but I don’t trust the current administration to protect our civil rights and travel rights.
Please make sure that the attorney specializes in civil rights and constitutional law.
Hello! I am Clay H. Greenberg, an immigration attorney with several years’ experience, and I will be assisting you with your question today.
Please give me a moment to review your question. Some answers may take a bit of time to prepare, so if you do not hear from me immediately, rest assured that I have not forgotten about you! Feel free to reach out if you have not heard back from me in 15 minutes.
How are you today? I understand you are concerned about being detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection upon your return to the U.S. Is that correct?
I think everyone is concerned about being detained by border protection, many posing as federal agents when in fact, they are a bounty hunters.
No problem. I completely understand your anxiety.
You said you have several years experience. I need to know that you are a true civil rights attorney and not in support of Maga. I do not mean to sound political, but this is a political world now and I do not want to work with anyone who is part of or who supports MAGA.
I can assure you I am not a supporter of MAGA. That said, I'm not able to provide legal representation for you, but I can answer any general legal questions you have about this issue. What question can I answer for you?
Esquire Greenberg, please advise me before we move ahead if you support the current administration's horrific policies. Are you a Trump supporter? I am not intending to offend you, but I do not want to do business or get advice from anyone who supports the current administration's policies.
I am not. However, as I said earlier, I'm not able to provide legal representation or formal legal advice here. I can only answer general legal questions. What question can I answer for you?
Situation: we are attending a celebration of the marriage of a gay couple in Cancun Mexico. Very good friends.
I am a vocal opponent on social media and on the streets of the Trump administration. I have attended and participated peaceful protests. I am concerned about the disappearing of people as well as the invasion of privacy at airports and points of entry..I want to know our rights as U.S. citizens: should I be carrying documents? What about our mobile device devices?
we all hold United States passports, my son has a TSA pre-check. I do not but could probably arrange that for myself and my adult daughter.
Esquire, Greenberg, I understand you do not represent me and that you were here to answer legal questions. My legal question is this: do I need to carry additional documents, wipe my phone or carry a travel phone, and if I am asked for access to my mobile device devices what are my rights in refusing?
You should have your U.S. passport with you as your proof of U.S. citizenship. As for searching of your mobile device, Customs and Border Protection does have the right to search devices at the border or port of entry. However, they cannot force you to enter your password. By contract, they can force you to put your fingerprint on the fingerprint scanner or use your face on the Face ID scanner. So, best practice is to disable Face ID, Touch ID, and similar features, and have your device locked only by an actual password.
Of course, if you want to take the extra precaution of traveling with a different phone, that cannot hurt.
This is very good information.
Rest assured that detaining a U.S. citizen because of their political activities is strictly illegal, and while I completely understand your anxiety given the current political climate, I don't think we're quite at the point of what you fear yet.
If I am forced, or if my children are forced to provide passwords, what are our rights?
You can refuse to do so under the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Doesn’t the Fifth Amendment infer guilt?
No. In fact, guilt may not be inferred in court from someone's invocation of their 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination.
Thank you for that clarification. What if they separate all of us for “questioning?"
What is the exact phrase that we need to say to anyone posing as a federal agent or a border patrol?
Since we're not allowed to provide legal advice here (we can only answer general legal questions), I'm not able to tell you exactly what you should say to CBP, unfortunately.
Here is an accurate article that may be helpful to you.
That is very helpful. And thank you for not being a MAGA supporter. TOO MANY LAW FIRMS AND ATTORNEYS ARE CAPITULATING RIGHT NOW. We need more attorneys who stand against autocracy, Kleptocracy, Racism and fascism. Thank you for your assistance. Can you please tell me how I download a copy of this chat?
I understand, although for the most part immigration attorneys are not.
Apologies, but I am not sure whether you can download a copy of this chat, or how. You may want to just copy and paste it into a separate document.
Thank you and thank you for upholding our rights. When it gets tough to do, just remember why you chose civil rights over corporate law.
You're welcome. I hope my answer has been helpful. Do you have any other questions about this for now?
I am comfortable with this conversation and cleaning information from it that could be helpful in our journey. Thank you, and we can now end the chat.
You’re very welcome. Good luck. It was my pleasure to assist you. Have a great day!
