Newly released documents show how the Department of Homeland Security can make use border crossings to search U.S. citizens of their electronic devices as they travel to and from the country, according to a report by the New York Times.
The files on the stoppage procedure were released to David House, a fund raiser for the defense of Chelsea Manning (formerly Ptc. Bradley Manning) as part of a settlement with House regarding confiscations over his own wares.
House had sued the agency after his laptop, camera, thumb drive, and cell phone were all seized following a trip to Mexico in November 2010. The data from his devices were investigated for seven months, then returned. No charges was filed.
"Americans crossing the border are being searched and their digital media is being seized in the hopes that the government will find something to have them convicted," Mr. House told the Times. "I think it's important for business travelers and people who consider themselves politically inclined to know what dangers they now face in a country where they have no real guarantee of privacy at the border."
Under current law, private citizens are largely stripped of their usual civil liberties when crossing international borders, under the premise that the federal government's obligation to prevent terrorism and drug trafficking comes before the inconvenience caused by a search. However, the investigation into House suggests an overreach of state power being applied to help stamp out security leaks and those antagonistic to state interests. Manning, who House was working for, was recently sentenced to 35 years prison time for releasing more than 700,000 confidential military files to WikiLeaks.
Earlier in the year, British journalist Glenn Greenwald's romantic partner David Miranda faced similar security scrutiny at London Heathrow Airport after Greenwald published Edward Snowden's leaked details on the NSA's PRISM program. Greenwald denounced that act by the government as a failed attempt at intimidation, noting that border security measures are aimed at preventing terrorism and terrorism only.