Border agents in NY, CT, VT can search phones
The gist
A US appeals court ruled border agents in NY.
The decision expands the border exception to the Fourth Amendment to phone contents.
How it unfolded
- 2019Chinwendu Alisigwe's phone was manually searched at JFK without a warrant.
- 2021Alisigwe's phone was manually searched at JFK a second time without a warrant.
- Sep 17, 2026The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in United States v. Alisigwe that border agents need neither a warrant nor any individualized suspicion to manually search a traveler's cellphone at a U.S. port of entry.