Homeland Security is facing a federal lawsuit for access to its records on how they search cellphones and laptops at border crossings. Civil liberties advocates are concerned that when the government pries into personal electronic devices they are infringing on citizens’ constitutional rights. The lawsuit contends, “Subjecting that information [on electronic devices] to unfettered government scrutiny invades the core of individual privacy and threatens free inquiry and expression.” (The Washington Post, March 27, 2017, by Ann E. Marimow)
Searches tallied 5,000 in 2015, 25,000 in 2016 and in February of 2017 alone a whopping 5,000. The lawsuit backers want to know the number of citizens searched, the numbers of searches by ports of entry and the numbers of searches by the travelers’ countries of origin. (The Intercept, March 27, 2017, by Murtaza Hussain)