In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously last week that police officers cannot search the cell phones of suspects they arrest, without a warrant.

Prior to the ruling, the police could search everything carried by the arrested suspect. But as Chief Justice John Roberts noted, “modern cell phones, as a category, implicate privacy concerns far beyond those implicated by the search of a cigarette pack, a wallet or a purse.”

Our Supreme Court justices are to be commended for this decision, which — they acknowledged — could limit the ability of law enforcement in fighting crime. 

“Privacy comes at a cost,” wrote Roberts. 

However, many innocent Americans are still being subject to warrantless phone searches by law enforcement. Customs and Border Protection agents have the legal power to go through the phone of an individual entering the United states, whether it’s a returning citizen or a foreign visitor. They can, and often do, demand to inspect travelers’ phones.

The current law, in a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, states that CBP officers can “examine your baggage, including electronic equipment, or your car, which [they] have the legal authority to do.”

Your “electronic equipment” nowadays could grant them access to your bank account, photos, notes, phone records, web history, email and social media interactions. 

At the border, a citizen’s privacy loses all legal protections and becomes a defenseless prey to the federal government.

While barring police from going through suspects’  phones might come at a price to law enforcement, safeguarding our electronic devices from CBP would not affect the capabilities of federal agents to secure our borders. Hence, last week’s courageous supreme court ruling to protect our privacy from the police should extend to CBP. 

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized,” reads the Fourth and most violated amendment of the Constitution.

It is not reasonable to search a citizen’s phone just because he was outside the country. Not only is it a violation of the Fourth Amendment,  it’s a pointless waste of resources. If a specific individual is deemed a security concern and detained at the border, CBP should then obtain a warrant to search that person’s phone. If he is not a security concern, the contents of his phone is none of CBP’s business.

We in the Arab American community— especially — know how unreasonable these searches are. Metro Detroiters cross the border to Canada on a regular basis to visit friends and relatives on the other side of the Detroit River. CBP agents should not be able to go through their phones like an jealous spouse.