Border crossings?
 

In August, my wife and I plan on flying round-trip from TLH to MHT for my cousin's wedding, renting a car at MHT. While there, we plan on driving the rental car to Montreal, parking it at a hotel and enjoying Montreal for a day or three, then driving back to MHT for the flight home.

This is not about nude-o-scopes. If I am "selected" at an airport for the NoS, I will double-opt-out and take Greyhound to my destination. I plan on flying there two days before the wedding just in case, and if it happens on the way back, I'll call my boss and explain the situation.

This is about the border crossing. My wife and I are both US citizens, and despite this, I've heard about what happens at border crossings. Accompanying us will be a digital camera and three smartphones--our Droids, and a BlackBerry issued by my employer. No laptops.

So, for two US citizens driving a rental car back into the USA:

- What are the chances that CBP will either steal our electronic devices or image their memory cards for their own records/pleasure?

- If we wrap the electronic devices or their memory cards in dirty clothes in our suitcases, would this help prevent the above? Or just make our day really, really bad when CBP finds them?

- If CBP tells us that entering the USA is conditional on unlocking our electronic devices for searching, can I refuse to unlock the devices and retreat back into Canada? And at this point, would I be put on a blacklist and get an even harder time when I ultimately do re-enter the USA by whatever method?

- I'll talk to my employer's telecomm group and ask them about just this thing. They might tell me to keep the BlackBerry in the USA because of this.

Thanks!

I have crossed the border dozens (probably hundreds) of times and have never had my smartphone or any other electronice device examined.

YMMV

I will tell you that US CBP will generally ask you why you're driving a rental car; they usually ask more questions on the East Coast than they do on the West Coast, but that might be because I can just be all "tee hee my husband needed our car" (usually the truth anyways) out here, but the excuse I mentioned in another thread tends to be magic, that "the fare and car rental was SO MUCH LOWER at this airport...like $200 less!" tends to do the trick everywhere. Like all Customs interactions, it's all theatre; it's more how you react than the answer you give. I can't say as that CBP has ever searched me in 100+ border crossings, though, so I can't speak to the rest of the question.