U.S. court clears warrantless cellphone searches at border for Canadians

A U.S. appeals court has cleared the way for border officers to search travellers' cellphones without probable cause or reasonable suspicion. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued the ruling September 17, finding no legal barrier to such searches at the border.

The case involved Chinwendu Alisigwe, a permanent U.S. resident whose device was searched at JFK Airport in New York. The court stated: "Under our precedents, no suspicion is required before the government searches a traveller's property at the border."

Previously, U.S. Customs and Border Protection policy required reasonable suspicion of a law violation or national security concern for advanced searches—those using external equipment to access and copy device contents. Basic searches, where an officer manually reviews what's visible, required no suspicion even before this ruling. The new ruling removes that distinction entirely.

The scale is significant. In 2025 alone, CBP searched 55,424 devices among 419 million international travellers crossing the U.S. border. Meanwhile, Canadian return trips to the U.S. fell 25.4 per cent last year—from 39 million trips in 2024 to 29.1 million in 2025, with monthly crossings down roughly 30 per cent year over year through summer 2025.

Immigration lawyers and security experts now recommend travellers bring a burner phone to the U.S. The Canadian government warns that officers can search phones, computers and tablets when entering the country and are not required to provide a reason or explanation. Refusing a search could result in device seizure or denial of entry.

Two gaps remain: whether the ruling applies only to permanent U.S. residents or to Canadian citizens as well, and whether Canada has filed any official response or challenge.