GET A WARRANT

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) introduced legislation Thursday that would require law enforcement to obtain a warrant before searching Americans’ phones and laptops at the border.

The Protect Data at the Border Act would apply Supreme Court precedent requiring probable cause to search electronic devices after arrests to border crossings.

The government has claimed an exception to the Fourth Amendment’s broad warrant requirement for activities at the border despite a lack of statutory clarity on the matter.

“Traveling near the border shouldn’t give the government a free pass to throw out our rights and thumb through our phones without any suspicion of wrongdoing,” Wyden said in a statement.