Controls when entering: Civil rights organization for US entrance: Caution with a cell phone

“Be prepared, make yourself a plan before you get control”: This is the most important advice of the American civil rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation Eff for entry into the USA. A spokeswoman told the German Press Agency who applies to tourists, students with a corresponding visa and also people who want to enter the United States for working.

It is particularly important to worry about cell phone, laptop and everything that is included.

Few people would be controlled more intensively when entering. The organization figures show that at 420 million entry in 2024 twelve million of a so -called second survey, and only 47,000 of them have a particularly thorough third stage.

Do border officials use their powers differently under Trump?

The “Washington Post” reported that the laws have not changed significantly in recent years, but the way the CBP border police officers set up their powers changes under the government of President Donald Trump.

This had recently experienced three Germans who had been put into deportation when entering the United States.

Cell phones have been checked more often for several years

According to the spokeswoman for the civil rights organization, Sophia Cope, the number of reviews of electronic devices has increased in recent years. “It will be interesting how it is developing this year,” she said.

The entry procedure therefore runs in this way: In a first stage, the official of the border and customs authority CBP only asks a few routine questions, for example after the travel ground, checks the passport and waves the entry.

However, if something attracts the official – or simply by chance – he can ask more precisely in a second stage, sometimes examine the battery compartment of the laptop or ask the willingness to get his cell phone willing.

Entering in “Zwickmühle”

The civil rights organization speaks of a dilemma here: one can refuse to do so, then the border officer can confiscate the device and stop the willingness to enter, or the cell phone is unlocked. Then the official could check apps and emails, look at photos and even copy data.

In a third stage that is rarest, an official can connect cell phones or other electronic devices to his computer. This makes it possible to collect and save significantly more data. According to the Washington Post, this data may be kept for 15 years and can be viewed by thousands of border officials.

Do not connect the cell phone to the internet

The spokeswoman advised to definitely put the cell phone into flight mode before checking and not to use WLAN. So the official could only see what is located directly on the cell phone, not what is stored in the cloud, for example. The border official has no right to do so: just as he could search a suitcase, but should not use the house key in it to search the house.

According to the spokeswoman, the officials are only allowed to search through public social media accounts, no private ones. Here should be considered how to deal with public posts. German tourists travel to the USA via the so-called ESTA permit, which you have to fill in beforehand and in which you are also asked for social media accounts.

It is important to consider beforehand how to react to a critical situation at the border. Everyone has to decide for themselves. A second, practically empty cell phone for entry could arouse suspicion of an official, said the spokeswoman. However, one could think about leaving certain devices at home.