NEW YORK—The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today held that border agents may search travelers’ electronic devices without suspicion. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) submitted an amicus brief in the case, arguing that the court should require the government to obtain a warrant before searching electronic devices at the border, given the implications of those searches for the First Amendment freedoms of speech, association, and the press, and the Fourth Amendment right to privacy. 

“Today’s decision leaves Americans’ most sensitive information open to search at the border without any suspicion at all,” said Scott Wilkens, senior counsel at the Knight First Amendment Institute. “Our phones hold our private thoughts and associations, photographs of our family and friends, and a log of our nearly every movement. The First Amendment should require the government to get a warrant before searching them. We’re disappointed the court declined to recognize that.”

Today’s decision involves a criminal case, United States v. Alisigwe, in which the government relied on evidence obtained from two warrantless searches of the defendant’s cell phone at the border. In November 2023, the district court denied the defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence. The Knight Institute and RCFP’s amicus brief before the Second Circuit pointed to documents obtained by the Knight Institute through FOIA litigation in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Dep’t of Homeland Security and also discussed the burdens these searches place on journalists, whose electronic devices contain sensitive newsgathering information, including the names of confidential sources. The brief argued that the border-search exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement does not apply to searches of electronic devices and urged the court to conclude that the First and Fourth Amendments require the government to obtain a warrant before searching a cellphone at the border. The Second Circuit rejected these arguments in today’s ruling.

In March 2025, the Knight Institute’s Wilkens argued before the Second Circuit. 

Read today’s decision here.

Read more about the lawsuit, United States v. Alisigwe, here.

Lawyers on the case include Scott Wilkens, Alex Abdo, and Jameel Jaffer of the Knight First Amendment Institute.

For more information, contact: Lorraine Kenny, [email protected].