On June 9, 2026, the Knight Institute and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press submitted an amicus brief in United States v. Michael Inofuentes, a criminal case in which the prosecution relied on evidence obtained from warrantless cellphone searches at the border. The defendant, Michael Inofuentes, moved to suppress the evidence on the grounds that the government’s manual searches of his cellphones were unconstitutional.

In support of Inofuentes’s appeal, the amicus brief addresses the burdens that electronic device searches at the border place on the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, association, and the press, as well as the Fourth Amendment right to privacy of all travelers. The brief explains that these searches expose vast amounts of expressive, associational, and highly sensitive personal information, including journalists’ newsgathering materials, the identities of confidential sources, travelers’ private messages, social media accounts, political views, and religious associations.

The brief cites documents obtained by the Knight Institute through FOIA litigation in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Department of Homeland Security, and urges the court to hold that the First and Fourth Amendments require the government to have at least probable cause of a border-related offense before conducting a manual or forensic search of an electronic device at the border.

Status: Briefing ongoing; amicus brief filed June 9, 2026.

Case information: United States v. Michael Inofuentes, No. 26-4150 (4th Cir.).