U.S. Border Agents Inspect 52,080 Devices in Nine Months

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents searched 52,080 electronic devices at the nation's borders from October 2025 through June 2026. The figure represents a 32 percent increase over the same period last year, when officers inspected 39,251 devices. The current pace is nearly equal to the all-time high of 55,424 searches recorded in fiscal 2025.

CBP categorized 47,517 of these inspections as basic searches. Officers can conduct these without reasonable suspicion. The remaining 4,564 were advanced searches, which require reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity or a national security concern. Advanced searches allow officers to analyze or copy the contents of a device.

The agency did not specify how many of these searches occurred at the Canadian border compared to the Mexican border. It also did not distinguish between airport and land crossings. CBP withheld the total number of travelers entering the country during that period. The agency also declined to state how many searches involved U.S. citizens versus non-citizens, details typically found in annual reports.

Jessica Turner, a CBP public affairs officer, addressed the volume in an emailed response. She noted that 419 million travelers entered the country in 2025. "CBP's border searches of electronic device numbers are consistent with increases since 2021, and year-over-year only 0.01 per cent of travellers have their devices searched," Turner wrote. She stated the goal is to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to admissibility.

Esha Bhandari, director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, criticized the lack of transparency. "It's hard to speculate on the reasons for the increase because the government doesn't explain it," she said. Bhandari argued that when the government holds this power, it uses it to the detriment of travelers' privacy. She cited anecdotes of travelers being questioned about their political opinions, writing, or religious practice.

In January, CBP updated its guidelines to include flash drives, SIM cards, GPS systems, drones, vehicle infotainment systems, and smartwatches in the scope of device searches. The update added narcotics, firearms, transnational theft of proprietary information, and digital contraband to the list of detectable crimes. Bhandari described these changes as marginal procedure adjustments and suggested the rise reflects technological advances and federal courts' failure to limit government authority.

Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, said the increase is difficult to judge without knowing the total number of crossings. She pointed to the World Cup this summer as a factor that may have brought a more diverse mix of visitors. Dawson also cited closer cooperation between Canadian and U.S. border services on issues like human smuggling and the Ryan Wedding case. "Having more scrutiny at the border is actually a positive in many ways," she said.

Dawson noted that device searches remain rare despite social media stories. Her figures indicate one in 9,000 crossings leads to a U.S. inspection. On the Canadian side, one in 14,000 crossings leads to a search. Canadian officials have searched a smaller share of devices than their U.S. counterparts in recent years, and those numbers have been falling. The Canada Border Services Agency has not yet released its 2026 statistics.