The U.S. Border: A Constitution-Free Zone Where Officials Can Grab Your Computer And Copy Your Hard Drive
Has anyone noticed that there are numerous attempts to prevent Americans from leaving the U.S.?
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Did you know that the U.S. government considers the U.S. border to be a ?constitution-free zone?? Did you know that customs officials can take your computer away from you, keep it for 30 days or more, and make a copy of everything that is on your hard drive? Sadly, this is actually true. According to the government, when you choose to cross the U.S. border you temporarily give up your constitutional rights. They can look at anything on your computer that they want to, and if they find anything that violates any law, they can use it against you in court. You may think twice about taking your computer out of the country after you read the rest of this article.
A lot of people think that it is the TSA that is doing this, but they are not supposed to be doing these kinds of searches. According to the official TSA blog, only customs officials are authorized to search laptops and other electronic devices?
Our officers might visually inspect your laptop and perform an explosives trace detection test, but that?s it. Our officers don?t even turn computers on during inspection.
So where are the reports coming from? They?re coming from people who have had their laptops searched by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
According to the Fourth Amendment, U.S. citizens are never supposed to be searched without probable cause. But the U.S. government has decided to throw out the Fourth Amendment, and the courts have gone along with it. So now customs officials can search anything that you bring across the border ? including your computer. The following is from Wikipedia?
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), ICE-HSI Special Agents, and Coast Guard officers (E4 grade and above) who are all customs officers (those tasked with enforcing Title 19 of the United States Code) with the United States Department of Homeland Security, are permitted to search travelers and their belongings at the American border without probable cause or a warrant. Pursuant to this authority, customs officers may generally stop and search the property of any traveler entering or exiting the United States at random, or even based largely on ethnic profiles.
If you get ?flagged? for some reason, you are much more likely to have your computer searched.
Of course this is going to make people much more hesitant to speak out against the government and it is going to have an incredibly chilling affect on our First Amendment rights, but that is probably what they want anyway.
One example of an individual that was ?flagged? for special treatment was described in an article by Lisa Vaas?
According to a report in Sunday?s Boston Globe, the consultant ? a former MIT researcher, David House ? was returning from rest and relaxation in Mexico when federal agents seized his laptop.
Did you know that the U.S. government considers the U.S. border to be a ?constitution-free zone?? Did you know that customs officials can take your computer away from you, keep it for 30 days or more, and make a copy of everything that is on your hard drive? Sadly, this is actually true. According to the government, when you choose to cross the U.S. border you temporarily give up your constitutional rights. They can look at anything on your computer that they want to, and if they find anything that violates any law, they can use it against you in court. You may think twice about taking your computer out of the country after you read the rest of this article.
A lot of people think that it is the TSA that is doing this, but they are not supposed to be doing these kinds of searches. According to the official TSA blog, only customs officials are authorized to search laptops and other electronic devices?
Our officers might visually inspect your laptop and perform an explosives trace detection test, but that?s it. Our officers don?t even turn computers on during inspection.
So where are the reports coming from? They?re coming from people who have had their laptops searched by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
According to the Fourth Amendment, U.S. citizens are never supposed to be searched without probable cause. But the U.S. government has decided to throw out the Fourth Amendment, and the courts have gone along with it. So now customs officials can search anything that you bring across the border ? including your computer. The following is from Wikipedia?
The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), ICE-HSI Special Agents, and Coast Guard officers (E4 grade and above) who are all customs officers (those tasked with enforcing Title 19 of the United States Code) with the United States Department of Homeland Security, are permitted to search travelers and their belongings at the American border without probable cause or a warrant. Pursuant to this authority, customs officers may generally stop and search the property of any traveler entering or exiting the United States at random, or even based largely on ethnic profiles.
If you get ?flagged? for some reason, you are much more likely to have your computer searched.
Of course this is going to make people much more hesitant to speak out against the government and it is going to have an incredibly chilling affect on our First Amendment rights, but that is probably what they want anyway.
One example of an individual that was ?flagged? for special treatment was described in an article by Lisa Vaas?
According to a report in Sunday?s Boston Globe, the consultant ? a former MIT researcher, David House ? was returning from rest and relaxation in Mexico when federal agents seized his laptop.
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