The recent spike in searches at the border has mostly been driven by an increase in the past six months. Between April and June, CBP searched 14,899 devices—which at the time marked a record high for any quarter of the year. However, the most recent figures show this increase has continued: Between July and September, there were 16,173 phones searched, the newly published CBP figures show.
Over the past decade, there has been an uptick in the number of phone and electronics searches taking place at the border—with the increases taking place throughout multiple political administrations. Statistics published by the CBP show there were 8,503 searches in 2015. Since 2018, the number of yearly searches has risen from around 30,000 to more than 55,000 this year. The new figures are the first time searches have surpassed 50,000.
CBP spokesperson Rhonda Lawson says that its most recent search numbers are “consistent with increases since 2021, and less than 0.01 percent” of travelers have devices searched. Lawson says searches can be conducted to “detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to visitor admissibility.”
“It may be helpful for travelers to know when they weigh the decision of what device to bring with them when traveling into the United States that searches of electronic personal devices are not new, the policy and procedures for searches have not changed, and that the likelihood of a search has not increased and remains exceedingly rare,” Lawson says.
Of the 55,000 device searches that took place over the past 12 months, the vast majority of these (51,061) were basic searches, with a total of 4,363 advanced device searches—a 3 percent increase over the 2024 fiscal year.
Federal courts remain split on whether advanced phone searches require warrants. The answer can change with the airport. The Eleventh and Eighth Circuits allow suspicionless searches of phones, while the Fourth and Ninth require reasonable suspicion for advanced, forensic searches. Recent district-court decisions in New York go further, requiring probable cause.
Several incidents involving tourists, including a French scientist whose phone was reportedly searched to discover whether he had criticized Trump, have shown how easily the intensified screening can slip into international controversy. In June, a 21-year-old Norwegian tourist was reportedly denied entry at Newark Liberty International Airport because his phone contained a now-famous meme mocking Vice President JD Vance—a small act of humor allegedly treated as grounds for expulsion.
CBP disputes many of those accounts, but the impression abroad is clear: The US is becoming an increasingly harder—if not more hostile—place to visit.
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