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Why an Illegal Phone Search Got This Man Kicked Out of the USA
The daily bell ^ | 25may19 | By Joe Jarvis

Posted on 06/06/2019 5:38:24 AM PDT by vannrox

There was no conceivable reason for border agents to be suspicious when “Charles” flew from Brazil to Chigaco, with a final destination of Denver.

But that didn’t stop them from searching his luggage, searching him, and finally searching his phone.

Customs and Border Protection has been ramping up their searches of the electronics of travelers to the United States. Over 30,000 people had their electronics searched at a U.S. airport last year while traveling to or from the United States.

In this interview, Charles tells me about his ordeal with the United States Customs and Border Protection. He was traveling to the United States to see a friend but was stopped at the airport and searched without probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion.

Finally, CBP Agents forced him to unlock his phone so they could troll through thousands of pictures, fishing for a crime. They didn’t find a crime, but they did find a picture of Charles with marijuana from over a year prior. Based on that picture, his visa was revoked.

(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybell.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: immigration; privacy; rights; search; travel
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1 posted on 06/06/2019 5:38:24 AM PDT by vannrox
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To: vannrox

There is always more to a story then what is printed. I wonder why the agents would spend hours on one individual. Perhaps they knew something we don’t.


2 posted on 06/06/2019 5:41:17 AM PDT by CIB-173RDABN (I am not an expert in anything, and my opinion is just that, an opinion. I may be wrong.)
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To: vannrox

...searched without probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion.

~~~

Who decided that this is fact? The author?

They picked him completely at random to search his phone?
I doubt it.

Does it smack of civil rights violation, if say, it happened at a traffic stop, or worse, in a private residence, anywhere that a reasonable expectation of privacy is in place? Yes. But this is international air travel. Anyone who goes through TSA already understands they are willing giving up certain rights to privacy.


3 posted on 06/06/2019 5:44:41 AM PDT by z3n
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To: vannrox

Non American? Non Citizen? Sorry. The rights are for US. Watch your butts aliens


4 posted on 06/06/2019 5:44:44 AM PDT by Vaquero ( Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
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To: vannrox

No need for probable cause or reasonable suspicion at the border. If in doubt, travel naked and with a burner phone. Move data across borders using a PIE (pre internet encryption) service and never share your keys.


5 posted on 06/06/2019 5:45:39 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: vannrox

CBP has extended search rights if they are at the border.


6 posted on 06/06/2019 5:46:04 AM PDT by Dr. Wu
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To: vannrox
I'm sorry, but the Libertarian in me says that these electronic searches at the border of phones, laptops, thumb drives, etc., are unconstitutional and need to end.
7 posted on 06/06/2019 5:47:03 AM PDT by Yo-Yo ( is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: vannrox
Illegal? Bullbleep! When you're entering the United States,Customs and Immigration agents have the authority to examine *anything* you're bringing with you.

I like to watch the many videos on youtube showing how Customs agents of various countries operate.Canadian and British agents have been filmed for TV series and they *routinely* search cell phones and computers.

For that matter...a few years back Canadian Customs officials searched my car *and* laptop at the border.Of course they found nothing and I was allowed in...but I assumed that under Canadian law they were authorized to do so and I,knowing that I was subject to Canadian law at the time,wasn't gonna protest.

8 posted on 06/06/2019 5:47:27 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (A joke: Comey,Brennan and Lynch walk into a Barr...)
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To: CIB-173RDABN

This is actually fairly common. They could be searching for anything from contacts with terrorists to evidence that the person lied on their visa application.

Prior SCOTUS rulings have held that until you clear customs and immigration you are technically NOT in the U.S., and thus Fourth Amendment protections don’t apply.


9 posted on 06/06/2019 5:51:59 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer.)
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To: vannrox

So what???

I’m supposed to feel sorry for someone who has no legal right to be here???

We don’t need to add to the dope smoking crew


10 posted on 06/06/2019 5:57:50 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: CIB-173RDABN

SPAM


11 posted on 06/06/2019 5:58:03 AM PDT by TexasGator (Z1z)
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To: Yo-Yo

Of a person who is attempting to enter OUR country????
So you side with the leftists that once on US soil you get all the rights of a citizen

This is why libertarians are useless


12 posted on 06/06/2019 5:59:57 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: CIB-173RDABN

“There is always more to a story then what is printed. I wonder why the agents would spend hours on one individual. Perhaps they knew something we don’t.”

1) No, there isn’t.
2) People sometimes get randomly picked for extra screening by the TSA. It happened on a flight I was on when TSA agents arrived at the gate as my flight was about to board and they made every other passenger in line unpack their bags in front of the entire flight and search them. I happened to be one of the odd one’s out. I was flying into Oakland, to go to a photography seminar in San Fransisco and they wanted me a unpack the $10,000 worth of camera gear I was carrying in front of about a hundred “dindu nuffins.” I’m not suicidal and I don’t like getting robbed, so needless to say I missed that flight and haven’t attempted to fly since. Now that flight might have been singled out because of the destination and the odds of finding something... but since the actual passengers selected were effectively chosen at random it can’t be claimed there was any kind of probable cause.


13 posted on 06/06/2019 6:00:52 AM PDT by Lurker51
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To: z3n

Yes, they absolutely do choose people at random, in fact, they’re generally required to do so in order to avoid “racial profiling.”


14 posted on 06/06/2019 6:05:07 AM PDT by Lurker51
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To: Nifster
Of a person who is attempting to enter OUR country???? So you side with the leftists that once on US soil you get all the rights of a citizen

This is why libertarians are useless

Read the fine article, my FRiend.

It's not about granting rights to aliens, it's about limiting the powers of our government.

Searching for physical contraband is one thing. Searching electronic devices for thought crimes is quite another.

Don't forget that the CBP does the very same thing to returning U.S. citizens. What's your thought about that?

15 posted on 06/06/2019 6:07:00 AM PDT by Yo-Yo ( is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: vannrox

“The Chinese market is huge and can be enticing for many business owners, but a visit to China can threaten your business if you aren’t careful.

Your valuable intellectual property and other proprietary information could be vulnerable to electronic snooping. Entrepreneurs report incidents of laptops and other devices being tampered with in customs and when left in hotel rooms in China. They also have seen signs that e-mail, Internet use and phone conversations may have been subject to surveillance.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-managing/going-to-china-leave-your-laptop-at-home/article4107059/


16 posted on 06/06/2019 6:08:29 AM PDT by SoCal Pubbie (Ca)
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To: vannrox
This guy was stupid.

He tried to enter the U.S. legally, with a visa.

If he had tried to sneak across the southern border illegally with the hundreds of thousands of others, he would have gotten in, NQA. They might have even had a welfare check waiting for him.

17 posted on 06/06/2019 6:11:12 AM PDT by Jess Kitting
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To: Buckeye McFrog

“Prior SCOTUS rulings have held that until you clear customs and immigration you are technically NOT in the U.S”

If that’s true then we can throw all the so called asylum seekers the F out immediately. Technically they were never on US soil so they never entered and are not subject to the cock-a-mamy Dum-o-crat laws on asylum. Toss their fannies back across the border. With prejudice.


18 posted on 06/06/2019 6:13:04 AM PDT by mistfree (It's a very uncreative man who can't think of more than one way to spell a word.)
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To: Yo-Yo

There is not now and as far as I know never has been the least requirement for probable cause to search at the border. Don’t like it? Don’t travel.


19 posted on 06/06/2019 6:13:51 AM PDT by Cincinnatus.45-70 (What do DemocRats enjoy more than a truckload of dead babies? Unloading them with a pitchfork!)
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To: Yo-Yo

My libertarianism only considers citizens as having Rights under the US Constitution. If this was a citizen then no search but non citizen break out the rubber gloves and do a body cavity i don’t care.


20 posted on 06/06/2019 6:13:59 AM PDT by rebel25 (GOD, Family, guns, and duck hunting, everything else is just noise.)
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