Bradley International Airport now boasts direct service to Dublin, Ireland, Edinburgh, Scotland, and various destinations in Canada. Those entering and leaving the United States through Bradley and other international airports and border crossings should be aware of an important exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement and the corresponding broad authority vested in U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents.
CBP agents can search cellphones, laptops and other electronic devices of those entering or leaving the country, regardless of citizenship and despite the vast quantities of extremely personal information stored on those devices. And CBP agents are searching more devices now than ever. Citing data provided by border patrol, the New York Times recently reported searches of electronic devices had quintupled from about 5,000 in 2015 to 25,000 in 2016.
