AMERICAN WIPES PHONE AT BORDER AND NOW FACES 5 YEARS IN JAIL

If you travel internationally with a cellphone, you need to understand how much authority Customs and Border Protection has when you return to the United States. At an international airport, CBP can generally conduct a basic manual search of information stored on your phone without a warrant or any suspicion, even if you are an American citizen. But citizenship still matters. CBP cannot deny a confirmed U.S. citizen entry simply because officers cannot inspect the person’s phone. Officers may delay and question the traveler, search belongings, and hold the phone for further examination, but they cannot exclude the citizen or send the citizen back for refusing access alone. Federal prosecutors allege that American citizen Samuel Tunick went further. They claim he supplied a special duress passcode that caused his phone’s data to be erased while CBP was attempting to seize it. He now faces a federal felony carrying up to five years in prison. Declining to unlock a phone and deliberately causing its data to be destroyed are two legally different actions. Tunick has been charged, not convicted. The government must still prove that the seizure was lawful and that he specifically intended to defeat it. For assistance with an immigration matter, contact: Law Offices of Spar & Bernstein, P.C. 45 Broadway, 15th Floor New York, New York 10006 Telephone: 212-227-8933 Website: www.lawsb.com This video provides general legal information and is not individual legal advice. #TravelTips #KnowYourRights #breakingnews #travel #ImmigrationLawyer