The Trump administration won a Fourth Amendment victory Thursday as a federal appeals court ruled that government agents may search a traveler's cellphone at the border without a warrant or suspicion.

The case began under the Biden administration. Chinwendu Alisigwe, a green card holder, was convicted of financial crimes in 2023. He argued his rights were violated when Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection agents scrolled through his cellphone and took photographs. The Department of Justice argued the border search exception applies.

In an effectively unanimous decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit sided with the DOJ, breaking with the district court's reasoning that reasonable suspicion was required.

The court likened a cellphone to luggage, stating: "Because a cellphone is property, our precedents establish that the government does not need to have reasonable suspicion before searching a traveler's cellphone at the border."