For our non-American readers, did you know that if you plan to cross the US border into the country, your phone could be the subject of searches? This applies not just to foreigners, but also US citizens as part of the screening process. This has been going on for years, but it looks like phone searches have hit an all-time high .
Phone searches hit all-time high at US border
According to the data from the US Customs and Border Protection agency, it looks like phone searches have hit a three-month high . The agency and its officials have searched 14,899 devices of international travelers between April through June 2025. This represents a 17% rise in the previous record in early 2022.
The agency claims that most of these searches are “basic” searches. This means that travelers are required to hand over their device and their passwords to agents. These agents will then go through the contents of their phones without using additional equipment.
On its website, the CBP claims, “These searches have been used to identify and combat terrorist activity, child pornography, drug smuggling, human smuggling, bulk cash smuggling, human trafficking, export control violations, intellectual property rights violations and visa fraud, among other violations.”
It also says, “ Furthermore, border searches of electronic devices are often integral to determining an individual’s intentions upon entry to the United States and thus provide additional information relevant to admissibility of foreign nationals under U.S. immigration laws.”
Trump’s crackdown on migration
The increase in phone searches appears to be part of the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to crack down on migration. By now, many of you might have heard of the increase in ICE activity to track down and deport people who might have entered into the US illegally.
There have been various reports of people traveling to the US who have encountered long detentions. Some have even been denied entry based on the contents of their phones. There are also stories of visitors who have been denied entry as well . This is despite the fact that they have valid travel documents and visas.
Speaking to WIRED , Esha Bhandari, a deputy director of American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, says, “This is essentially a limitless authority that they claim for themselves to search travelers without a warrant to search the full scope of information people carry on them.”
