Border patrol

Border Agents Searched His Phone 5 Times Without a Warrant. He's Asking the Supreme Court To Put a Stop to It.

How many warrantless cellphone searches does it take to change border policy?

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 8.19.2026 11:45 AM

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(Illustration: Kostyantine Pankin/Dreamstime/Midjourney)

The Fourth Amendment says authorities can't search you or your things without probable cause and a warrant. But U.S. immigration authorities have long claimed that this constitutional mandate doesn't apply to them, at least not when it comes to searching people—including American citizens—who are entering or exiting the United States.

Under current Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies, agents are allowed to seize and search your stuff—including your cellphone, your laptop, or any other electronic devices—without a warrant and without suspicion if you're around the border or flying into or out of the country.

It happened to George Anibowei five times. Now, he's asking for the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

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Anibowei is an immigration lawyer and a naturalized U.S. citizen. He lives in Dallas and frequently travels internationally, including to visit family members in Nigeria several times per year.

In October 2016, border agents stopped him at the airport as he was flying back from Toronto, took his phone, and copied everything on it before letting him go. "Nearly a decade later, the government still has that data," according to the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), which is representing Anibowei.

Since that 2016 search, immigration authorities have conducted warrantless searches of Anibowei's phone four more times. "Every search has taken between two and five hours, resulting in delays and missed flights," PLF reports. And every search has potentially exposed confidential information about his clients and his work as an immigration attorney to immigration enforcement authorities.

Is this constitutional? Federal courts have disagreed.

"Two federal circuits hold that a warrant is generally required at the border, while six—including the U.S.........

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