Border Agents Inspected Over 52,000 Traveler Devices in Nine Months

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers searched 52,080 electronic devices at border crossings during the first three quarters of fiscal year 2026. The count marks a 32 percent increase from the same period last year and puts the agency on pace for another annual record.

The data covers the period from October 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. In the prior year, officers inspected 39,251 devices over that same span. Fiscal year 2025 set a previous benchmark with 55,424 total device searches.

CBP classifies the 2026 inspections into two categories. Officers conducted 47,517 basic searches, a process that requires no reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The remaining 4,564 were advanced searches, which allow agents to analyze or copy device contents when they have reasonable suspicion of unlawful activity or national security concerns.

The agency did not release a breakdown of where these searches took place. CBP declined to specify how many occurred at the Canadian border versus the Mexican border, or how many happened at airports compared to land crossings. The department also withheld data on the total number of travelers entering the country and the ratio of searches involving U.S. citizens versus non-citizens.

Jessica Turner, a CBP public affairs officer, stated that searches remain a small fraction of total traffic. She noted that in 2025, only 0.01 percent of the 419 million travelers who entered the country had their devices searched. Turner explained that these inspections aim to detect digital contraband, terrorism-related content, and information relevant to admissibility.

Esha Bhandari, director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, argued that the rise demands more congressional oversight. She said it is difficult to determine why the numbers increased because the government does not explain the trend. Bhandari stated that when the government holds this power, it tends to use it to the detriment of travelers’ privacy. She described the anecdotes her group hears, such as travelers being asked about political opinions or religious practice, as certainly troubling.

In January, CBP updated its guidelines to expand the definition of covered 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 goods, as well as transnational theft of proprietary information, to the list of crimes the searches are meant to detect.

Laura Dawson, executive director of the Future Borders Coalition, said the increase is hard to judge without knowing where the searches occurred or how many people crossed. She pointed to the World Cup earlier this summer as a factor that may have brought a more diverse mix of visitors. Dawson also cited greater focus on border security and closer cooperation between Canadian and U.S. border services, including on human smuggling and the Ryan Wedding case.

Dawson noted that device searches remain rare despite alarming stories on social media. By her figures, one in 9,000 crossings leads to a U.S. inspection, and one in 14,000 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 says its 2026 statistics are not yet available.