Contact: Eric Storey, Director of Grassroots and Digital Advocacy, 202-662-1770
ABA urges Homeland Security Department to modify procedures for searching lawyers’ electronic devices at U.S. border crossings
ABA President Linda A. Klein urged the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take steps to ensure that proper policies and procedures are in place during border crossings to prevent the erosion of important legal principles. In a May 5 letter to DHS Secretary John Kelly and Acting General Counsel Joseph Maher, Klein expressed serious concerns about standards that permit U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to search and review the content of lawyers’ laptop computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices at U.S. border crossings without any showing of reasonable suspicion.