The Asian Law Caucus (ALC) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit Thursday against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for denying access to public records on the questioning and searches of travelers at U.S. borders. The suit, filed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is in response to the growing volume of complaints both organizations have received from travelers entering the U.S.
The Asian Law Caucus (ALC) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit Thursday against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for denying access to public records on the questioning and searches of travelers at U.S. borders. (Photo: EFF)
ALC, a San Francisco-based civil rights organization, received more than twenty complaints from Northern California residents last year who said they were grilled about their families, religious practices, volunteer activities, political beliefs, or associations when returning to the United States from travels abroad. In addition, customs agents examined traveler's books, business cards collected from friends and colleagues, handwritten notes, personal photos, laptop computer files, cell phone directories, and sometimes made copies of this information. When individuals complained, they were told, "This is the border, and you have no rights."
Amir Khan, an IT consultant from Fremont, California and a U.S. citizen, is stopped each time he returns to the country. Customs officials have questioned him for a total of more than twenty hours and have searched his laptop computer, books, personal notebooks, and cell phone. Despite filing several complaints, Khan has yet to receive an explanation of why he is repeatedly singled out.
"One customs officer even told me that no matter what I do, nothing would improve," said Khan. "Why do I have to part with my civil liberties each time I return home?"
When Nabila Mango, an American citizen and San Francisco therapist, returned from a trip to the Middle East in December, customs agents at San Francisco International Airport asked her to name every person she had met and every place she had slept during her travels. They also searched her Arabic music books, business cards, and cell phone. In addition, they may have photocopied some of her papers.
"In my 40 years in this country, I have never felt as vulnerable as I did during that interrogation," Mango said. "I want to find out whether my government is keeping files on me and other Americans based on our associations and ideas."
"When the government searches your books, peers into your computer, and demands to know your political views, it sends the message that free expression and privacy disappear at our nation's doorstep," said Shirin Sinnar, staff attorney at ALC.
"The fact that so many people face these searches and questioning every time they return to the United States, not knowing why and unable to clear their names, violates basic notions of fairness and due process," Sinnar added.
ALC and EFF asked DHS to disclose its policies on questioning travelers on First Amendment-protected activities, photocopying individuals' personal papers, and searching laptop computers and other electronic devices. The agency failed to meet the twenty-day time limit that Congress has set for responding to public information requests, prompting the lawsuit.
The searching practices at the border are a hot topic. Privacy is at an all time high and the government is seen as overstepping its bounds in some cases. In several pending cases, the U.S. Government has argued the searches and questions fall under the same rules as searching someone’s backpack or luggage. If not for the fact the cases are pending, this argument could place a wrench in the EFF’s case.
In November of 2007, a U.S. District Court in Vermont did issue a ruling that helps some travelers. The ruling, issued in a case centered on child pornography, said that a person does not have to enter their password in order to remove security measure in place on electronic equipment. This covers laptops, and PDAs. Magistrate Judge Jerome J. Niedermeier ruled, "If [he] does know the password, he would be faced with the forbidden trilemma: incriminate himself, lie under oath, or find himself in contempt of court."
The full EFF complaint is here: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/alc/alc-complaint.pdf
View blog reactions
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)
Advertising
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)