The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that border agents may search travelers' electronic devices without any suspicion, rejecting arguments that the First Amendment and Fourth Amendment require a warrant. The decision came in United States v. Alisigwe, a criminal case where evidence from two warrantless cellphone searches was admitted.

The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed an amicus brief urging the court to require warrants, citing the vast amounts of private data on phones and the chilling effect on journalists protecting confidential sources. Senior counsel Scott Wilkens called the ruling a threat to freedoms of speech, press, and association, noting phones contain "private thoughts and associations, photographs of our family and friends, and a log of our nearly every movement."

The brief relied on documents obtained through FOIA litigation in Knight First Amendment Institute v. Dep't of Homeland Security. Lawyers on the case included Scott Wilkens, Alex Abdo, and Jameel Jaffer. The district court had denied the motion to suppress in November 2023, and Wilkens argued before the Second Circuit in March 2025.