WASHINGTON — Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies that the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.
Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches as well as prohibit profiling on the basis of race, religion or national origin.
DHS officials said the newly disclosed policies — which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens — are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism.
