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U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents searched more phones at the border this year than ever before, with some officers turning away tourists for having or the likes of Sharing memes about Donald Trump and JD Vance, according to reports.
The number of phones examined by border agents has increased by 17 percent over the past year, with CBP examining more than 55,424 devices, according to data seen by CBP. wiredJust a year earlier, CBP had conducted 47,000 searches.
The aggressive increase in inspections has been accompanied by a decline in the number of tourists visiting the US, as people from Canada and Europe seek alternative vacation destinations.
Limit Officers are legally entitled to search Phones of anyone entering the US, including citizens and green card holders.
Basic searches involve federal agents manually scrolling through phones, while advanced searches use advanced tools to copy and analyze the data. Enhanced searches require officers to have reasonable suspicion or cause, but failure to comply can result in detention.
However, a worrying trend in rejections Concerns have arisen at the border that the current administration is using tougher rules to block entry from people who have been critical of it trump,
a minister of the french government Said that a scientist was denied entry to the United States after messages were found expressing criticism of Trump’s presidency.
“I learned with concern that a French researcher who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled,” Philippe Baptiste, France’s minister of higher education and research, said in a statement. World in March.
“This measure was clearly taken by US authorities because the researcher’s phone contained conversations with colleagues and friends in which he expressed personal opinions on the Trump administration’s research policy,” he continued.
Months later, in June, a norwegian The tourist claimed he was denied entry to the United States after border officials found a meme depicting a bloated, balding J.D. Vance on his device.
Mads Mikkelsen, 21, said he was threatened by border officials with a $5,000 fine or five years in prison if he did not hand over his phone for inspection. The decision to reject his application was reportedly based on the claim that the meme was found on his device.
The story was dismissed as “false” by CBP at the time.
“Mads Mikkelsen was not denied entry for any meme or political reasons, it was because of his admitted drug use,” the agency wrote.
At the time, Mikkelsen acknowledged that he had spoken to CBP officers, but claimed that his concerns were focused on the meme and a second photo he created depicting a wooden pipe.
In the same month, Alistair Kitchen, an Australian author, said blue sky That he was “detained and deported from the United States” due to his “reporting on Columbia student protests”.
Foreign tourism to the United States has declined in recent months, with travel to the US from Canada and Mexico falling by 20 percent, according to US Travel Association data. reuters,
Meanwhile, TUI chief executive Sebastian Abel told Guardian European tourists are choosing to visit Canada or Asia due to concerns about the “atmosphere” in the US and “whatever they hear from border control”.
Independent CBP and DHS have been contacted for comment.