Border Searches and Electronic Data

January 12, 2026  |  New York Law Journal

Many of us take our cell phones and laptops with us when we travel, and courts are now wrestling with what sort of searches of electronic devices may be conducted at the border under the Fourth Amendment. In their recent New York Law Journal article, Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello partners Elkan Abramowitz and Jonathan Sack discuss a recent decision of Eastern District of New York Judge Gary Brown, in United States v. Walden, which denied a motion to suppress data obtained from a warrantless search of a defendant’s cell phone at JFK Airport. The article addresses open questions regarding the permitted scope of digital searches, and the level of suspicion needed to conduct such searches, at the border. These issues are almost certain to be addressed by the Second Circuit and likely taken up by the Supreme Court. 

Border Searches and Electronic Data