CBP Searches 52,080 Devices in Nine Months

U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspected 52,080 electronic devices belonging to travelers between October 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. This count represents a 32 percent increase over the same period in the previous fiscal year, when officers searched 39,251 devices. The agency is on pace to exceed the all-time annual record of 55,424 searches set in fiscal 2025.

The surge in inspections began after the agency expanded the scope of its authority in January 2026. CBP updated its guidelines to include flash drives, SIM cards, GPS systems, and smart watches. The revision also added specific targets such as digital contraband and transnational theft of proprietary information to the list of justifications for searching devices.

CBP categorized the 52,080 inspections into two types. Officers conducted 47,517 basic searches, which do not require reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. An additional 4,564 advanced searches were performed, allowing agents to analyze or copy data when they had reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity or national security concerns.

Jessica Turner, a CBP public affairs officer, stated in an email that these searches affect a small fraction of the 419 million travelers who entered the country in 2025. She noted that only 0.01 percent of travelers have their devices searched year-over-year. Turner said the primary goals are detecting digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to admissibility.

The agency declined to specify how many of these searches occurred at the Canadian border versus the Mexican border. CBP also withheld data on the split between airports and land crossings. The department did not release figures on how many searches involved U.S. citizens compared to non-citizens, details typically included in its annual reports.

Esha Bhandari, director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, argued that the rise warrants more congressional oversight. She stated that the government rarely explains the reasons for the increase, making it difficult for the public to assess the trend. Bhandari suggested that the expansion reflects advances in technology and a lack of federal court limits on government authority.

Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, said it is difficult to judge the increase without knowing the total number of crossings or specific locations. She pointed to factors such as the 2026 World Cup bringing a diverse mix of visitors and increased cooperation between Canadian and U.S. border services on human smuggling and the Ryan Wedding case.

Dawson noted that device searches remain rare despite social media reports. Her data indicates that one in 9,000 crossings leads to a U.S. inspection. On the Canadian side, one in 14,000 crossings results in a search. Canadian officials have searched a smaller share of devices than their U.S. counterparts in recent years, with numbers trending downward.

The Canada Border Services Agency has not yet released its 2026 statistics. CBP’s data shows that the current pace of inspections is nearly as high as the total for the entire previous fiscal year. The agency will continue to publish these figures as part of its standard reporting process.