“I think CBP flagged me since of my arranging and political work around immigrants’ rights in Florida,” he composed in his court filing. “This isn’t the very first time that police targeted and bugged me due to the fact that of my political perspective: in 2021, after speaking up versus Governor [Ron] DeSantis, the Miami Police were surveilling me and disallowing me from interview.”

Border search exemption

Federal courts have actually long-recognized a “border exception” to the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution, where individuals, bags, and electronic gadgets can be browsed without a warrant.

Kennedy’s story is similar to a 2017 occurrence at San Francisco Airport, where a regional artist described to Ars how border representatives there apparently threatened to “be penis” if he did not turn over his phone.

On its site, CBP states that it can copy such information “if there is likely cause to think that the info includes proof of an offense of law that CBP is licensed to impose or administer” or “if the details associates with migration, custom-mades, or other enforcement matters.”

CBP states that such searches of electronic gadgets are extremely uncommon.

“In [Fiscal Year] 2025, out of the over 419 million tourists CBP processed at ports of entry, CBP just browsed the electronic gadgets of 55,318 worldwide tourists,” the firm composed, or 0.0013%.

Still, Kennedy is upset about what occurred to him.

“CBP should not have actually had the ability to take my phone, not to mention copy its contents,” he composed in the problem. “I think they did so to reduce my political speech.”

The case was initially reported by the Miami New Times.