CBP Held U.S. Citizen Hours at Houston Airport, Now Sued Over Warrantless Phone Search
A Vermont school superintendent is suing the Department of Homeland Security after Customs and Border Protection agents detained him for hours at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and insisted he had no Fourth Amendment protections before inspecting his electronic devices. According to Houston Chronicle reporting, Wilmer Chavarria was returning from a trip abroad in July 2025 when CBP stopped him and demanded passwords for his phone, tablet, and laptop.
Chavarria, a naturalized U.S. citizen, initially refused to unlock the devices because one was school property containing sensitive student information, but agents held him for hours in a secondary inspection area and reiterated that he had no constitutional rights at the border.
Confirmed filings in U.S. District Court show Chavarria eventually complied only after prolonged isolation and pressure, then was released with his devices returned, though he was never informed why he was detained.
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The federal lawsuit, supported by the Pacific Legal Foundation, argues CBP’s longstanding policy of allowing warrantless and suspicionless searches of electronic devices at ports of entry and within 100 miles of the border, violates the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.
“This lawsuit challenges a policy that says constitutional rights stop at the border,” a Pacific Legal attorney said in a statement.
The legal challenge comes amid broader debate over digital privacy protections at U.S. entry points, where courts have historically carved out a “border search exception” but have not clearly defined its limits for electronic data.
Federal judges may now weigh whether CBP can continue these warrantless practices or if international travelers must be afforded full constitutional safeguards before device searches. The case could set a precedent for how far border search authority extends in the digital age.
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