Civil liberties have been threatened since US President Donald Trump came to power in January. The Trump administration targets more vulnerable groups, such as immigrants, tourists, and non-American activists, because U.S. law does not grant them the same protection as U.S. citizens.
Some immigrants and tourists have been trapped at the border for a long time. In some cases, Trump is criticized by social media posts. This raises the question - should one prepare for our immigration agents when they meet them?
Crossing the U.S. border is a particular vulnerability to Trump’s repressive targets.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detained Lebanese doctor and assistant professor at Brown University Rasha Alawieh, who tried to re-enter the U.S. in March and eventually deported agents after they discovered images related to Hezbollah. The agency provided no evidence that she had any connection with the paramilitary group, and she tried to explain that she had not supported them before she was eventually sent to Lebanon.
Tom Bowman, policy adviser at the Center for Democratic Technology (CDT), said crossing the U.S. border caused “unique privacy issues” because Customs and Border Protection has more power to search for people than conventional law enforcement. He said they could search people’s electronic devices “without an arrest warrant or possible reasons.”
“If you are a citizen, they cannot refuse to enter the country based on the refusal to unlock your phone. They may confiscate the phone, but you cannot deny your entry.” “If you are at risk of being deported, it is recommended to comply with any requests from customers and border enforcement, but that does not mean you cannot minimize the amount of data you carry with you.”
"Some travelers choose to limit their data across borders," Bowman said. "This may involve using travel-only devices, storing basic information in the cloud and recording from all accounts, or completely deleting sensitive applications and files. Others choose to turn off the device completely before reaching the border and relying on full disk encryption to protect their content."
Ice has been targeting pro-Palestine student protesters and has frequently investigated social media.
Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, was caught by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in March as he returned home after IFTAR in Ramadan. Ice said Suri was born in India and on a student visa in the United States, and was "spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism on social media", which his lawyer denied.
Two days ago, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service announced that it would screen social media accounts to apply for permanent residence and non-citizens associated with educational institutions to demonstrate evidence of “anti-Semitism”.
While the Trump administration has not invoked the Uprising Act, it is currently punishing people for protests - non-citizens.
Because of his involvement in the pro-Palestinian protests, the government has specifically tried to expel a student activist from Columbia University, called Mahmoud Khalil, and he is just one of several similar cases.
"I think people should be very concerned," said Daniel Solove, professor of intellectual property and technology law at George Washington University. "We live in a surveillance society where governments can use facial recognition technology and AI-assisted surveillance technology to systematically identify and track protesters. We have seen governments follow protesters."
Cornell student and activist Momodou Taal revoked his student visa and recently decided to leave the United States to avoid deportation. Yunseo Chung is a Colombian student and activist and a legal permanent resident who moved to the United States from South Korea at the age of 7 and is also an ICE target.
Federal agents may use video surveillance, social media monitoring, facial recognition or geolocation data to determine who participates in the protest, Bowman said. He said people who recorded photos and videos can also inadvertently determine who participated in a specific demonstration, so people should use their equipment with caution.
"One basic protection is to turn your phone into airplane mode when protests are underway. This will ensure you don't send data in real time," Budington said. "You can still browse the streets using offline maps. Both GoogleMap and Apple Maps can do that."
Protesters can also use messaging applications such as signals to communicate during protests, because so that their information can be encrypted. Some people may recommend keeping their phones at home, but if you want to record a wrong police lawsuit, you may want to keep it at home.
Basically, it is impossible to avoid all governments snooping and ensure their data is fully guaranteed 100% of the time, but actions by people crossing the border or participating in protests may help reduce the risks targeted by the government.
Americans are increasingly aware of their need for privacy and are looking for ways to protect themselves. Buttington said people seem to care more about privacy than they were five to ten years ago.
"The government already has a lot of personal data and is using it incorrectly. The government already has countless surveillance technologies and is using them," Solov said. "We are already in a constitutional crisis. It seems that this government will push as much as possible until it stops."