Travel Rights, Regulations and Restrictions
Re-entering the U.S. After Travel
- Upon return to the U.S., travelers must pass through Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which is part of The Department of Homeland Security
- It is customary to present your passport to a CBP agent, who may ask a few questions about your reason for traveling
- If CBP wants to know more about your trip, they may take you to secondary inspection, regardless of your status as an American citizen, a green card holder or a visa holder
Permissible Searches
- The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects people from searches and seizures without probable cause of a crime being committed, does not apply at border crossings
- CBP does not need “probable cause and reasonable suspicion” to search your luggage, your person, or your electronic devices
- Searches can also be random or because a traveler has incomplete travel documents or because their name matches a person of interest
Limits to Mobile Phone Searches
- CBP is limited in the information they can obtain through your mobile phone
- While CBP officers can search through data stored internally on a cell phone (e.g. text messages), authorities cannot search for items kept on an external server, such as those used by Google or Amazon
- Although travelers can refuse to allow CBP to inspect the information stored physically on the phone, federal authorities have the right to confiscate the device if an individual does not comply with their lawful demands
For more information, read these related articles:“” (ACLU) and "” (Afar Magazine).