DHS Agents Detain WSJ Reporter at LAX, Demand her Cellphones
Jul 22, 2016, 2:52 pm
#1
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DHS Agents Detain WSJ Reporter at LAX, Demand her Cellphones
CNN - Feds try to forcefully search Wall Street Journal reporter's phone
<snip>
Maria Abi-Habib, a reporter who covers the Middle East for the paper, detailed in a long Facebook post Thursday how Department of Homeland Security agents detained her in "a special section of LAX airport" to ask her questions.
<snip>
"They grilled me for an hour," she wrote. "I answered jovially, because I've had enough high-level security experiences to know that being annoyed or hostile will work against you." Abi-Habib said that the agents then asked for her cellphones in order to collect information. "That is where I drew the line," Abi-Habib wrote. "I told her I had First Amendment rights as a journalist she couldn't violate and I was protected under."
<snip>
Abi-Habib told the agents that they would have to call the Wall Street Journal's lawyers because the phones are the property of the newspaper. This led to the agent accusing her of "hindering the investigation." The agent left to speak with her supervisor, returning 30 minutes later to tell Abi-Habib that she was free to go.
<snip>
Maria Abi-Habib, a reporter who covers the Middle East for the paper, detailed in a long Facebook post Thursday how Department of Homeland Security agents detained her in "a special section of LAX airport" to ask her questions.
<snip>
"They grilled me for an hour," she wrote. "I answered jovially, because I've had enough high-level security experiences to know that being annoyed or hostile will work against you." Abi-Habib said that the agents then asked for her cellphones in order to collect information. "That is where I drew the line," Abi-Habib wrote. "I told her I had First Amendment rights as a journalist she couldn't violate and I was protected under."
<snip>
Abi-Habib told the agents that they would have to call the Wall Street Journal's lawyers because the phones are the property of the newspaper. This led to the agent accusing her of "hindering the investigation." The agent left to speak with her supervisor, returning 30 minutes later to tell Abi-Habib that she was free to go.
<snip>
Jul 22, 2016, 3:00 pm
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CBP picking its battles. Battling the WSJ doesn't sound like a big winner for a career bureaucrat of sorts, CBP included.
I'd be curious to know how frequently she's selected by DHS or ICTS for additional hassles on flights back to the US.
I'd be curious to know how frequently she's selected by DHS or ICTS for additional hassles on flights back to the US.
Jul 22, 2016, 3:10 pm
#3
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may have only let her go without more hassles because someone was smart enough to realize bad press
i remember some security writers and military bloggers have been hassled because of MENA travel (where they are writing / embedded...) recall one questioned re "income"
i remember some security writers and military bloggers have been hassled because of MENA travel (where they are writing / embedded...) recall one questioned re "income"
Jul 22, 2016, 5:08 pm
#4
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Excerpt:
I landed at LA airport last Thursday to attend a wedding. I was standing in line for immigration when a DHS officer said "oh, there you are." I was puzzled. "I was trying to recognize you from your picture. I'm here to help you get through the line."
I asked a few questions, and she said that DHS had decided to pick me up when my name came in on the flight manifest (this is not uncommon, for countries to share passenger names). She didn't say whether the flight manifest was sent from Beirut, where I started my trip, or Frankfurt, where I hopped onto my connecting flight to LAX. The DHS agent went on to say she was there to help me navigate immigration because I am a journalist with The Wall Street Journal and have traveled to many dangerous places that are on the US' radar for terrorism. She independently knew who I worked for and my Twitter account, countries I'd reported from (like Iraq) and even recent articles I'd written -- I told her nothing about myself.
This didn't seem out of the ordinary at first -- I've had US Immigration officials tell me my name is on a special list that allows me to circumvent the questioning most would receive if they had a similar travel profile or internet print (talking to members of known terrorist groups). I travel to the US about twice a year and have always remarked on how smooth my experiences at Customs/Immigration are.
I asked a few questions, and she said that DHS had decided to pick me up when my name came in on the flight manifest (this is not uncommon, for countries to share passenger names). She didn't say whether the flight manifest was sent from Beirut, where I started my trip, or Frankfurt, where I hopped onto my connecting flight to LAX. The DHS agent went on to say she was there to help me navigate immigration because I am a journalist with The Wall Street Journal and have traveled to many dangerous places that are on the US' radar for terrorism. She independently knew who I worked for and my Twitter account, countries I'd reported from (like Iraq) and even recent articles I'd written -- I told her nothing about myself.
This didn't seem out of the ordinary at first -- I've had US Immigration officials tell me my name is on a special list that allows me to circumvent the questioning most would receive if they had a similar travel profile or internet print (talking to members of known terrorist groups). I travel to the US about twice a year and have always remarked on how smooth my experiences at Customs/Immigration are.
Jul 22, 2016, 8:46 pm
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So, what recent article did she write critical of the admin?
Jul 22, 2016, 10:21 pm
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Jul 23, 2016, 12:24 am
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Based upon her Facebook post, it would appear that this was the first time that she was targeted, at least upon entering the US:
Excerpt:
Jul 29, 2016, 2:05 am
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Sure you will. CBP officers need reasonable suspicion to seize electronic devices for a forensic search. They can ask for the password without any suspicion, and if you refuse, they may say "Then we'll seize it." In my experience, they will bluff and threaten seizure as a way to get you to answer questions or give up the password.
If they do seize it, they have to give it back fairly promptly, after a few days or maybe a couple of weeks.
This reporter should just refuse to answer CBP questions in the future. Based on my experience, they will stamp their feet and threaten to hold her for a long time and then let her go in an hour or so.
If they do seize it, they have to give it back fairly promptly, after a few days or maybe a couple of weeks.
This reporter should just refuse to answer CBP questions in the future. Based on my experience, they will stamp their feet and threaten to hold her for a long time and then let her go in an hour or so.
Jul 29, 2016, 3:28 am
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Jul 29, 2016, 4:41 pm
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It won't be wiped. It's more like "don't be surprised if there is monitoring software running on it."
I won't take electronics past customs that I can't afford to lose. If they seize it, I'll consider it "gone". If they force me to collect it, I'll put it in the recycle pile and never use it again. It is now an untrusted device.
I won't take electronics past customs that I can't afford to lose. If they seize it, I'll consider it "gone". If they force me to collect it, I'll put it in the recycle pile and never use it again. It is now an untrusted device.
Aug 1, 2016, 8:24 am
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It won't be wiped. It's more like "don't be surprised if there is monitoring software running on it."
I won't take electronics past customs that I can't afford to lose. If they seize it, I'll consider it "gone". If they force me to collect it, I'll put it in the recycle pile and never use it again. It is now an untrusted device.
I won't take electronics past customs that I can't afford to lose. If they seize it, I'll consider it "gone". If they force me to collect it, I'll put it in the recycle pile and never use it again. It is now an untrusted device.
Aug 1, 2016, 8:36 am
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Very good software and hardware to check for data leaking vulnerabilities isn't the only way or even best way to protect information-holding devices' local information from those wanting prying eyes. But trusting electronic devices with connectivity capabilities indeed involves accepting some level of risk of data exposure whether aware of the risks or not. But physical surrender of devices providers a somewhat different risk profile than over the air exposure of the devices.
Mar 21, 2019, 3:53 pm
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Here is some interesting insight into an electronic border search operation in 2015 at ORD:
http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bi...:N:2310820:S:0
"Operation Culprit targeted certain individuals returning from three countries known to investigators for “sex tourism” and sex trafficking, including the sex trafficking of children. The investigators developed a list of initial criteria to identify individuals of interest to Operation Culprit: (1) U.S. citizen (2) men (3) between the ages of eighteen and fifty or sixty (4) returning from the Philippines, Thailand, or Cambodia (5) traveling alone (6) with a prior criminal history"
* * *
"In total, Operation Culprit investigators selected twenty-three or twenty-four individuals for secondary inspection from the two to three thousand passengers arriving on the targeted flights that day."
http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bi...:N:2310820:S:0
"Operation Culprit targeted certain individuals returning from three countries known to investigators for “sex tourism” and sex trafficking, including the sex trafficking of children. The investigators developed a list of initial criteria to identify individuals of interest to Operation Culprit: (1) U.S. citizen (2) men (3) between the ages of eighteen and fifty or sixty (4) returning from the Philippines, Thailand, or Cambodia (5) traveling alone (6) with a prior criminal history"
* * *
"In total, Operation Culprit investigators selected twenty-three or twenty-four individuals for secondary inspection from the two to three thousand passengers arriving on the targeted flights that day."
Mar 21, 2019, 6:11 pm
#15
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Here is some interesting insight into an electronic border search operation in 2015 at ORD:
http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bi...:N:2310820:S:0
"Operation Culprit targeted certain individuals returning from three countries known to investigators for “sex tourism” and sex trafficking, including the sex trafficking of children. The investigators developed a list of initial criteria to identify individuals of interest to Operation Culprit: (1) U.S. citizen (2) men (3) between the ages of eighteen and fifty or sixty (4) returning from the Philippines, Thailand, or Cambodia (5) traveling alone (6) with a prior criminal history"
* * *
"In total, Operation Culprit investigators selected twenty-three or twenty-four individuals for secondary inspection from the two to three thousand passengers arriving on the targeted flights that day."
http://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bi...:N:2310820:S:0
"Operation Culprit targeted certain individuals returning from three countries known to investigators for “sex tourism” and sex trafficking, including the sex trafficking of children. The investigators developed a list of initial criteria to identify individuals of interest to Operation Culprit: (1) U.S. citizen (2) men (3) between the ages of eighteen and fifty or sixty (4) returning from the Philippines, Thailand, or Cambodia (5) traveling alone (6) with a prior criminal history"
* * *
"In total, Operation Culprit investigators selected twenty-three or twenty-four individuals for secondary inspection from the two to three thousand passengers arriving on the targeted flights that day."