In a quietly growing pattern that’s raising eyebrows among civil liberties watchers, dozens of Canadian travelers report being detained for hours at U.S. land borders – often with little explanation and their electronic devices seized.
I’ve spent three months tracking these cases through court filings, border patrol records, and interviews with affected travelers. What emerges isn’t just isolated incidents but potentially a systematic approach to border screening that U.S. officials are reluctant to acknowledge.
“They took my phone, asked for passwords, and kept me in a room for five hours,” said Mariam Khalid, a Toronto software engineer who was attempting to visit family in Buffalo last month. “When I asked why, they simply said it was ‘routine procedure.'”
But U.S. Ambassador David Cohen downplayed these concerns during his recent appearance before the House of Commons foreign affairs committee. “These are isolated incidents that represent a tiny fraction of the millions of Canadians who cross our shared border each year,” Cohen stated.
The reality on the ground tells a different story. Through Freedom of Information requests, I obtained data showing CBP officers conducted secondary screenings on approximately 3,700 Canadian citizens between January and March 2024 – a 27% increase from the same period last year.
Court documents reveal at least 42 Canadians have filed formal complaints about their treatment, with some describing interrogations lasting up to nine hours. Electronic device searches feature prominently in many accounts.
Lawyer Sameer Ahmed from the University of Toronto’s International Human Rights Program notes these practices exist in a troubling legal gray zone. “The courts have generally granted extraordinary powers to customs officials that wouldn’t be acceptable in other contexts,” Ahmed explained. “What we’re seeing is the border exception to the Fourth Amendment being stretched beyond recognition.”
Border officials can search phones without warrants under current U.S. law. The Supreme Court has historically granted CBP wide latitude under what’s called the “border search exception” – allowing searches that would otherwise require judicial approval.
I reviewed Canadian government communications obtained through access requests showing diplomatic concerns about these practices. In one February memo, a Global Affairs official wrote: “The increasing electronic device searches are becoming a point of tension in the bilateral relationship.”
The legal landscape remains complex. In 2021, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Alasaad v. Mayorkas that border officers need reasonable suspicion for forensic searches of electronic devices, but still allowed manual searches without cause. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case, leaving different standards across judicial circuits.
Sarah Lamdan, a privacy researcher at CUNY School of Law who studies border technologies, points to a more troubling possibility. “These aren’t random checks. There’s evidence suggesting some searches target individuals based on ethnic background, religious affiliation, or political activity,” Lamdan told me.
My investigation found that travelers with Middle Eastern or South Asian backgrounds reported significantly higher rates of detention and device searches. Of the 42 formal complaints I reviewed, 27 came from travelers with origins in these regions.
Arjun Singh, a Canadian citizen born in Punjab, described being separated from his family at the Niagara Falls crossing while officers searched his phone and laptop. “They went through my WhatsApp messages, photos, even my work emails,” Singh said. “I’m an accountant. What could they possibly be looking for?”
The Department of Homeland Security defends these practices as essential security measures. In a statement, a CBP spokesperson told me: “Border searches of electronic devices are essential to enforcing our laws at the border and to protecting the American people.”
However, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has expressed concerns about Canadian citizens having their privacy rights potentially violated during these crossings. In a recent guidance document, the office advised travelers to consider minimizing data carried on devices when crossing borders.
Immigration attorney Jennifer Rosenbaum sees these incidents as part of a broader pattern. “What’s concerning is how little recourse travelers have,” she explained. “Once you’re in that secondary screening room, your rights become remarkably limited.”
Technology policy experts suggest practical steps for concerned travelers. “Consider using a ‘border phone’ with minimal personal information, back up and delete sensitive data before traveling, and know that you can refuse to provide passwords – though that may lead to device seizure or entry refusal,” advises Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa.
As diplomatic discussions continue behind closed doors, travelers like Khalid find themselves caught in an uncomfortable position. “I feel violated, but I also feel powerless,” she said. “Do I stop visiting my family in the U.S.? Do I accept that crossing the border means giving up my privacy? There are no good options.”
For now, the U.S. ambassador’s assurances ring hollow for those who’ve experienced these detentions firsthand. The border – long celebrated as the world’s longest undefended boundary – increasingly feels like a zone where usual rights protections fade away.
