SAN FRANCISCO - The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Asian Law Caucus filed suit Thursday against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for denying access to public records on the questioning and searches of travelers at U.S. borders.
Filed under the Freedom of Information Act, the suit responds to U.S. citizens and immigrants' complaints of excessive or repeated screenings by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
"The public has the right to know what the government's standards are for border searches," said EFF attorney Marcia Hofmann. "Laptops, phones and other gadgets include vast amounts of personal information. When will agents read your email? When do they copy data, where is it stored and for how long? How will this information follow you throughout your life? The secrecy surrounding border-search policies means that DHS has no accountability to America's travelers."
The ALC said on its website that it received more than 20 complaints from Northern California residents in 2007.
The complaining residents said they were grilled about their families, religious practices, volunteer activities, political beliefs and associations when returning to the United States from travel abroad. Customs agents reportedly examined the travelers' books, business cards collected from friends and colleagues, handwritten notes, personal photos, laptop computer files and cell-phone directories, and sometimes made copies of this information.
According to the ALC, when the travelers complained, they were told, "This is the border, and you have no rights."
"When the government searches your books, peers into your computer and demands to know your political views, it sends the message that free expression and privacy disappear at our nation's doorstep," said ALC attorney Shirin Sinnar. "The fact that so many people face these searches and questioning every time they return to the United States, not knowing why and unable to clear their names, violates basic notions of fairness and due process."
The ALC and EFF asked the Department of Homeland Security to disclose its policies on questioning travelers on First Amendment-protected activities, photocopying personal papers and searching laptop computers and other electronic devices. The ALC claims the agency failed to meet the 20-day time limit Congress set for responding to requests for public information, prompting the lawsuit.
Nabila Mango, a U.S. citizen and San Francisco therapist, told the ALC that when she returned from a trip to the Middle East in December 2007, customs agents at San Francisco International Airport searched her Arabic music books, business cards and cell phone, and may have photocopied some of her papers. She said she was asked to name every person she had met and every place she had slept during her trip.
"In my 40 years in this country, I have never felt as vulnerable as I did during that interrogation," Mango said. "I want to find out whether my government is keeping files on me and other Americans, based on our associations and ideas."
Amir Khan, a U.S. citizen and information technology consultant from Fremont, Calif., told the ALC he is stopped every time he returns to the United States from abroad. He said customs officials have questioned him for more than 20 hours total and have searched his laptop computer, books, personal notebooks and cell phone.
Despite filing several complaints, Khan said, he hasn't received an explanation for why he is repeatedly singled out.
"One customs officer even told me that no matter what I do, nothing would improve," he said. "Why do I have to part with my civil liberties each time I return home?"
The complaint filed Friday is posted in the news section of AsianLawCaucus.org.
