• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Can US officials read private correspondence without a court order?

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

eu_vogel

Junior Member
I would appreciate getting some advice. My friend is a much overaged student (well, an adult student is the proper term), attending one of US universities on the East Coast. Each year he travels about four times to Europe, where he has family, and then back. He is a US citizen (or rather he has dual citizenship of US and one EU state). He looks normal, Northern European, not suspicious in anyway, not Middle Eastern, not your typical target for persecution. Within last two year every single time he traveled through Boston Logan airport he got stopped by the US customs and viciously harassed. All his possessions are searched and money counted. When he first told me about harrasment I thought that may be he is some some secret black list - who knows what‘s going on inside that police state (no, my friend is not involved in any illicit activity). But then after he was searched four or five times and they found nothing, I realized that my black list black list theory does not hold water. It is more likely that US Customs have an unspoken policy of harassing naturalized citizens. I guess not all citizens are equal.

Here is the background: In my opinion, customs officials are supposed to protect the borders of the land of the free and the home of the brave from snails, food stuffs, illegal migrants, drugs, explosives. That’s where their duties end. They are not supposed to deal with people’s thoughts or supervise personal communications. I may be wrong but that’s an assumption. At least in the European Union government officials are not allowed to open private correspondence or read people’s mails for fun and without proper court order. My friend, he is a US citizen, told me that US customs officials took his notebook computer, started it up, and began reading his mails and letters (why would private letters be of interest to custom officials is beyond me). They even found and read a complaint letter he previously wrote to the State Department and the US Customs (no response of course) reporting a case of prior harassment. They asked him if he’s got problem with the customs and told him that, yes, they’ve read his letter - “Sorry, that’s your fault, you forgot to delete it.”

By the way, US customs officials went through every piece of paper he had, through every phone number, through every page of his (paper) notebooks, asking all sort of curious questions, - who is that guy? Whose phone number is that? Why does he carry this with him (a Christian brochure picked at a Lutheran church), and what does he intend to do with this (a household water filter company catalogue), and why doesn’t he put old emails and addresses into his notebook computer but carries them on bits of paper instead.

…. and the US officials said it was a routine inspection!


This happens on US terriority, in the United States, the victim or rather the subject of harassment is a US citizen, and the correspondence government officials read is obviously private.

Question: do government officials in the US have unlimited rights to read citizen’s correspondence and private communications either carried in traditional (paper) or electronic (computer) format?
 


joyeann

Junior Member
Customs and Border Patrol website

Please see the link below.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/admissability/authority_to_search.xml

I am a US citizen and not doing anything illegal, however do ALOT of traveling. I have had this happen 3 times! I did ask the airline, and the only information they could say, is that maybe i matched someones description.

I just put up with it. Sometime's I get the full search, sometimes I don't.

I do know, that when I bring my husband (Iranian) to the US, he is likely to get a cavity search because of his nationality. :)

Usually, when he hands someoen his passport, they think he is from EU and stole an Iranina Passport because he doesnt "look" middle eastern and that ALWAYS takes a long time.

If you feel they went too far, there is a link on the left to file a complaint.

Hopefully this link will help out
 

Shay-Pari'e

Senior Member
eu_vogel said:
I would appreciate getting some advice. My friend is a much overaged student (well, an adult student is the proper term), attending one of US universities on the East Coast. Each year he travels about four times to Europe, where he has family, and then back. He is a US citizen (or rather he has dual citizenship of US and one EU state). He looks normal, Northern European, not suspicious in anyway, not Middle Eastern, not your typical target for persecution. Within last two year every single time he traveled through Boston Logan airport he got stopped by the US customs and viciously harassed. All his possessions are searched and money counted. When he first told me about harrasment I thought that may be he is some some secret black list - who knows what‘s going on inside that police state (no, my friend is not involved in any illicit activity). But then after he was searched four or five times and they found nothing, I realized that my black list black list theory does not hold water. It is more likely that US Customs have an unspoken policy of harassing naturalized citizens. I guess not all citizens are equal.

Here is the background: In my opinion, customs officials are supposed to protect the borders of the land of the free and the home of the brave from snails, food stuffs, illegal migrants, drugs, explosives. Well I am glad "Home Land" security does not share your opinion.

That’s where their duties end.Say's "YOU"?

They are not supposed to deal with people’s thoughts or supervise personal communications.You said they searched bags and counted his money, that's all.

I may be wrong but that’s an assumption. At least in the European Union government officials are not allowed to open private correspondence or read people’s mails for fun and without proper court order. My friend, he is a US citizen, told me that US customs officials took his notebook computer, started it up, and began reading his mails and letters (why would private letters be of interest to custom officials is beyond me). They even found and read a complaint letter he previously wrote to the State Department and the US Customs (no response of course) reporting a case of prior harassment. They asked him if he’s got problem with the customs and told him that, yes, they’ve read his letter - “Sorry, that’s your fault, you forgot to delete it.”

By the way, US customs officials went through every piece of paper he had, through every phone number, through every page of his (paper) notebooks, asking all sort of curious questions, - who is that guy? Whose phone number is that? Why does he carry this with him (a Christian brochure picked at a Lutheran church), and what does he intend to do with this (a household water filter company catalogue), and why doesn’t he put old emails and addresses into his notebook computer but carries them on bits of paper instead.

…. and the US officials said it was a routine inspection!


This happens on US terriority, in the United States, the victim or rather the subject of harassment is a US citizen, and the correspondence government officials read is obviously private.

Question: do government officials in the US have unlimited rights to read citizen’s correspondence and private communications either carried in traditional (paper) or electronic (computer) format?
If they are getting on that aircraft, you bet they do.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top