US Border Agents Inspected 52,000 Traveler Devices in First Nine Months
Customs and Border Protection data shows a 32% year-over-year increase, though the agency declined to break down the figures by specific border locations or traveler citizenship.
By Layla Fontaine ·
US Customs and Border Protection officers inspected 52,080 electronic devices at the border from October 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. This total represents a 32% increase over the same period in the previous fiscal year, when agents searched 39,251 devices.
CBP classified 47,517 of these inspections as basic searches. Officers can conduct basic searches without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The remaining 4,564 were advanced searches, which require reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity or a national security concern to analyze or copy device contents.
The agency did not provide a breakdown of where these inspections occurred. CBP withheld data on the number of searches conducted at the Canadian border versus the Mexican border, as well as the split between airports and land crossings. It also did not release figures for the total number of travelers who entered the country during this period or the number of searches involving US citizens compared to non-citizens.
Jessica Turner, a CBP public affairs officer, stated that the 2025 search volume affected a small fraction of the 419 million travelers who entered the country that year. She noted that year-over-year, only 0.01% of travelers had their devices searched. Turner wrote that the searches aim to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to admissibility.
Esha Bhandari, director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, argued that the rise in inspections requires more congressional oversight. She stated that it is difficult to speculate on the reasons for the increase because the government does not explain the data. Bhandari said the aggregate numbers make it hard to understand specific trends, citing anecdotes of travelers being asked about political opinions, writing, and religious practice.
In January, CBP updated its guidelines to include flash drives, SIM cards, GPS systems, unmanned aircraft systems, vehicle infotainment systems, and smart watches under the scope of device searches. The update also added smuggling of narcotics, firearms, and other goods, transnational theft of proprietary information, and digital contraband to the list of crimes agents are meant to detect.
Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, said the increase is difficult to judge without knowing the total number of people who crossed the border. She noted that the World Cup held this summer may have brought a more diverse mix of visitors. Dawson added that one in 9,000 crossings leads to a US inspection, while one in 14,000 leads to a search on the Canadian side.
