CAIR-NY keeps your phone safe at the border.
Today, CAIR-NY joined the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other leading civil rights organizations to file a brief in federal court, arguing that it is unconstitutional to seize and copy a traveler’s phone at the border without a warrant. CAIR-NY is fighting back against U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which argues that they can seize any electronic device at the border, including those belonging to U.S. citizens.
CAIR-NY submitted its brief in U.S. v. Kolsuz, which is on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. CBP officials seized Mr. Kolsuz’s phone and conducted two warrantless searches, including “extensive forensic testing.” CAIR-NY believes that such searches violate travelers’ “dignity and privacy interests,” in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.