52,080 devices: U.S. border officers search nearly a record number of gadgets

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspected 52,080 electronic devices from Oct. 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. This count is 32% higher than the 39,251 devices searched during the same period in the previous year. The total is close to the full-year record of 55,424 inspections set in fiscal 2025.

CBP classified 47,517 of these inspections as basic searches. Officers can perform basic searches without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The remaining 4,564 were advanced searches, which require reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity or a national security concern. Advanced searches allow officers to analyze or copy the contents of a device.

The agency did not break down the figures by location. It did not state how many searches occurred at the Canadian border versus the Mexican border. It also did not specify the split between airports and land crossings. CBP withheld the total number of travelers who entered the country during this period. It also did not release data on how many searches involved U.S. citizens versus non-citizens.

Jessica Turner, a CBP public affairs officer, stated that device searches affected a small fraction of the 419 million travelers who entered the country in 2025. She wrote that only 0.01% of travelers have their devices searched year-over-year. Turner said the searches aim to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to admissibility.

Esha Bhandari, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, called for more congressional oversight. She said it is hard to speculate on the reasons for the increase because the government does not explain it. Bhandari argued that when the government holds a power, it tends to use it to the detriment of travelers' privacy. She noted that anecdotes from her group include travelers being asked about political opinions, writing, or religious practice.

In January, CBP updated its guidelines to include flash drives, SIM cards, GPS systems, drones, vehicle infotainment systems, and smartwatches in its search scope. The update also added smuggling of narcotics, firearms, and proprietary information theft to the list of target crimes. Bhandari said these changes altered only a few procedures at the margins. She suggested the increase may reflect advances in technology and the failure of federal courts to limit government authority.

Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, noted that it is hard to judge the increase without knowing where the searches occurred or how many people crossed. She pointed to the World Cup this summer as a factor that may have brought a more diverse mix of visitors. Dawson said one in 9,000 crossings leads to a U.S. inspection. She stated that Canadian officials have searched a much smaller share of devices in recent years, and those numbers have been falling.