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Returning from vacation? The government can search your phone without a warrant

411 points · 378 comments · rbanffy

  1. Tangurena2 · · focus · HN ↗
    > “In [Fiscal Year] 2025, out of the over 419 million travelers CBP processed at ports of entry, CBP only searched the electronic devices of 55,318 international travelers,” the agency wrote, or 0.0013%.

    The harassment is targeted at critics & opponents of the current regime. The message is very clear: Be afraid of us. Be very afraid

    There are 33 days remaining until election day. Vote out all the incumbents.

    1. petcat · · focus · HN ↗
      I will be curious to see statistics from past years. I'm wondering if this is a new thing. I'm pretty sure US customs and border patrol have always had this power. I think basically every country exercises this power
      1. anal_reactor · · focus · HN ↗
        The core issue is that on one hand, police needs power to protect the citizens, but at the same time the power might corrupt them.
        1. pessimizer · · focus · HN ↗
          This is not the issue. The police are tools.

          The question is whether the people who control the police are subject to democratic processes. They are not. We live in an oligarchy whose control over the government is exercised through two small private clubs who have written themselves into the law. To which it has been decided that infinite money can be donated, that money given without explicit quid pro quo is simply a gift, and that money given after something has been done is simply a "gratuity."*

          It's an evil country, and the most lucrative middle-class profession is to generate daily the vocabulary to justify its evil acts.

          I can tell you who doesn't ever get searched at the border. In fact, I bet you could tell me. Peter Thiel doesn't get searched at the border. Kamala Harris doesn't get searched at the border. Jeffrey Epstein never got searched at the border. Tom Cruise doesn't get searched at the border.

          [*] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Snyder_v._United_States" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Snyder_v._United_States

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