Border Officers Search 52,080 Traveler Devices in Nine Months

Customs and Border Protection officers searched 52,080 electronic devices at U.S. ports of entry between October 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. The figure marks a 32 percent increase over the same period in the previous year, when 39,251 devices were inspected. The current count approaches the all-time high of 55,424 searches recorded during the entirety of fiscal 2025.

CBP categorizes the majority of these inspections as basic searches. Officers conducted 47,517 of the total searches without requiring reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The remaining 4,564 were advanced searches, which allow agents to analyze or copy device contents if they have reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity or a national security concern.

The agency did not provide a breakdown of where these searches occurred. CBP declined to specify how many inspections took place at the Canadian border versus the Mexican border. It also withheld data on the split between airport and land crossings. The agency did not release the total number of travelers who entered the country during the period or the proportion of searches involving U.S. citizens versus non-citizens, details typically included in its annual reports.

Jessica Turner, a CBP public affairs officer, wrote in an email that the searches affect a small fraction of the 419 million travelers who entered the country in 2025. She stated that only 0.01 percent of travelers had their devices searched year-over-year. Turner explained that the searches aim to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to admissibility.

Esha Bhandari, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, called for increased congressional oversight. She noted that it is difficult to speculate on the reasons for the rise because the government does not explain the increase. Bhandari argued that the aggregate data makes it hard to understand specific trends, and she described anecdotes from her group, including travelers being asked about political opinions and religious practice, as certainly troubling.

In January, CBP updated its guidelines to expand the definition of devices. The new rules include flash drives, SIM cards, GPS systems, unmanned aircraft systems, vehicle infotainment systems, and smart watches. The update also added smuggling of narcotics, firearms, and transnational theft of proprietary information to the list of crimes the searches are meant to detect. Bhandari said the changes altered only a few procedures at the margins and suggested the increase may reflect advances in technology and the failure of federal courts to limit the government's authority.

Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, said the increase is hard to judge without knowing where the searches occurred. She noted that the World Cup this summer may have brought a more diverse mix of visitors, and she pointed to greater focus on border security and closer cooperation between Canadian and U.S. border services. Dawson stated that having more scrutiny at the border is actually a positive in many ways.

Dawson added that device searches remain rare despite alarming stories on social media. By her figures, one in 9,000 crossings leads to a U.S. inspection, and one in 14,000 crossings leads to a search on the Canadian side. Canadian officials have searched a much smaller share of devices than their U.S. counterparts in recent years, and the Canada Border Services Agency says its 2026 statistics are not yet available.