52,080 Devices: U.S. Border Searches Jump 32 Percent

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspected 52,080 electronic devices in the first three quarters of the 2026 fiscal year. This represents a 32 percent increase over the same period in the previous year, when 39,251 devices were searched. The current total is approaching the all-time high set in fiscal 2025, which recorded 55,424 inspections.

The data covers the period from October 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. CBP classified 47,517 of these inspections as basic searches. Officers can conduct these without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The remaining 4,564 were advanced searches. These require reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity or a national security concern and allow officers to analyze or copy device contents.

The agency did not specify how many searches occurred at the Canadian border versus the Mexican border. It also did not break down the data by airport or land crossing. CBP withheld the total number of travelers who entered the country during this period. It also did not disclose how many searches involved U.S. citizens compared to non-citizens. These details are typically included in annual reports.

Jessica Turner, a CBP public affairs officer, stated that the number of searches remained low relative to the total volume of travelers. She noted that 419 million people entered the country in 2025. "CBP's border searches of electronic device numbers are consistent with increases since 2021, and year-over-year only 0.01 per cent of travellers have their devices searched," Turner wrote in an email. She explained that the searches aim to find digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to admissibility.

Esha Bhandari, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, argued that the rise demands more congressional oversight. She said the government rarely explains the reasons for the increase. "It's hard to speculate on the reasons for the increase because the government doesn't explain it," Bhandari said. She observed that when the government holds this power, it tends to use it to the detriment of travelers' privacy. She described the aggregate data as difficult to interpret and called the anecdotes her group receives "certainly troubling." These include travelers being asked about their political opinions, writing, or religious practice.

In January, CBP updated its guidelines to expand the definition of searchable devices. The new rules include flash drives, SIM cards, GPS systems, unmanned aircraft systems, vehicle infotainment systems, and smart watches. The update also added the smuggling of narcotics, firearms, and other goods to the list of crimes the searches target. It also included transnational theft of proprietary information and digital contraband. Bhandari said these changes altered only a few procedures at the margins. She suggested the increase may reflect technological advances and the failure of federal courts to limit government authority.

Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, said it is difficult to judge the increase without knowing where the searches occurred or how many people crossed. She noted that searches also happen at seaports and airports. She pointed to the World Cup held in the summer, which may have brought a more diverse mix of visitors. Dawson also cited a greater focus on border security and closer cooperation between Canadian and U.S. border services. This includes efforts related to human smuggling and the Ryan Wedding case. "Having more scrutiny at the border is actually a positive in many ways," Dawson said.

Dawson maintained that device searches remain rare despite alarming stories circulating on social media. By her figures, one in 9,000 crossings leads to a U.S. inspection. One in 14,000 crossings leads to a search on the Canadian side. Canadian officials have searched a much smaller share of devices than their U.S. counterparts in recent years, and those numbers have been falling. The Canada Border Services Agency has not yet released its 2026 statistics.