Resource: Knight Institute v. DHS — FOIA Suit on Border Searches of Electronic Devices

Searches of cellphones and laptops by U.S. border agents have increased dramatically, rising to about 25,000 in 2016 from about 5,000 in 2015, according to press reports. These searches, which are routinely conducted without individualized suspicion of wrongdoing, raise serious concerns relating to privacy and the freedoms of speech and association. In an effort to learn more about the government’s policies and practices in this area, the Knight Institute has sued to enforce a Freedom of Information Act request filed with the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The request seeks, among other things, policy documents relating to searches of journalists’ electronic devices and parts of a database in which border personnel record information about each device search they conduct.