Originally Posted by
PhotoJim
I'm no expert on this, but when entering a country, your rights are quite different than they are once you've been admitted into the country. For example, the right to unreasonable search and seizure does not exist until you have been admitted - border officers have the right to search your property even without reasonable cause.
I'm guessing at a certain point you would have the legal right to counsel but it may not be immediate. It may depend on what the officers intend of you.
Respectfully, your statement is not really accurate. Your rights are not at all "quite" different at the border, they are very slightly different. The only substantive difference is the relaxation of the 4th amendment requirement for a warrant in order to search. Things are otherwise identical -- free speech is guaranteed, the right to bear arms is protected, self-incrimination, due process, press freedom, prohibition of slavery, right of women to vote, all that cool stuff is there at the border and everywhere else.