Border agents can't search cellphones of NYC visitors without a warrant, court rules

A federal court has ruled that United States border agents cannot search cellphones without warrants in the eastern district of New York. The decision applies to both US citizens and foreign visitors entering the region, including New York City, the most visited site by international travelers.

The case stems from a 2022 incident where border agents personally searched the phone of a man named Kurbonali Sultanov at JFK Airport in New York. He initially refused and then handed over the machine when the agents said there was nothing they could do. The phone was later thoroughly searched with a warrant, but Sultanov moved to suppress the evidence found during the initial search, claiming it violated his rights.

Freedom groups supported this proposal. “As the court sees it, warrantless searches of electronic devices at the border are an unwarranted intrusion into travelers' private speech, personal associations, and the efforts of journalists — the very activities the First and Fourth Amendments are designed to protect,” said Scott Wilkens, senior counsel for the Knight First Amendment Institute. The court did not dismiss the evidence, however, saying that the agents working at the border acted in good faith.

The debate over whether border control agents can search electronics has raged for years. In 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of 11 people whose phones were searched at the border.