Attorney: U.S. border agencies can read deleted messages

Attorney Deepak Ahluwalia said CBP recovered permanently deleted messages from a client’s phone at San Francisco Airport, despite the phone not being linked to any cloud service.

Ahluwalia noted that CBP and ICE use technology and AI tools capable of retrieving deleted data from electronic devices.

CBP policy states that officers may search electronic devices on rare occasions to combat terrorism, drug smuggling, human smuggling, and other violations.

In FY 2025, less than 0.01% of arriving international travelers had their electronic devices searched by CBP.