> I think the rule applies to incoming travellers only, not everyone who happens to be near the border.
No, it applies to where the Border Patrol asserts authority to conduct warrantless stops and searches of any person/vehicle/etc. for potential immigration or violations.
(There's also a similar 25-mile zone where they assert authority to do so on private property other than physically entering houses.)
They also claim similar authority to the 100-mile limit in cities with international airports, if they happen to be outside of the 100 mile zone.
> The Fourteenth Amendment doesn't just lose force for everyone living in one of the coastal cities.
The Fourteenth Amendment limits the power of state governments, it's the Fourth Amendment that is at issue here. But the legal theory is that warrantless searches in these circumstances, are reasonable and thus compliant with the Fourth Amendment.
Searching someone's phone or laptop isn't just done to determine their immigration status. So if a person shows their U.S passport, would BP still be allowed to search their electronics?
That is of course terrible and should never happen, but I think it's also erroneous or illegal, not something the law permits.
I'm not defending BP or ICE practice. I was just wondering if the law actually permits the authorities to search electronic equipment of U.S citizens for no other reason than being within 100 miles of the border. That I would find truly astonishing.
> Searching someone's phone or laptop isn't just done to determine their immigration status. So if a person shows their U.S passport, would BP still be allowed to search their electronics?
Sorry, “immigration status” was not quite what I should have said, it's to determine border violations, both immigration and contraband related. As warrantless electronics searches are for “digital cobtraband”, they would seem likely to have the same status in the border zone (to the extent it is valid) as at the border, where manual checks with no specific basis and forensic checks with “reasonable suspicion” have been upheld, IIRC.
No, it applies to where the Border Patrol asserts authority to conduct warrantless stops and searches of any person/vehicle/etc. for potential immigration or violations.
(There's also a similar 25-mile zone where they assert authority to do so on private property other than physically entering houses.)
They also claim similar authority to the 100-mile limit in cities with international airports, if they happen to be outside of the 100 mile zone.
> The Fourteenth Amendment doesn't just lose force for everyone living in one of the coastal cities.
The Fourteenth Amendment limits the power of state governments, it's the Fourth Amendment that is at issue here. But the legal theory is that warrantless searches in these circumstances, are reasonable and thus compliant with the Fourth Amendment.