"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
CBP's warrantless searches are plainly unconstitutional.
President Obama signed off on a drone strike on foreign soil targeting and killing a US citizen, in direct violation of the constitution depriving a citizen of a fair trial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_al-Awlaki
We didn't collectively do anything about it then, except cheer it on or say nothing, so it will continue and expand until, and if, we do.
A few months later, Obama codified indefinite detention without trial. Some of us sounded the alarm, but it seems that politicians are still drunk on power post-9/11 and neither party is interested in the "rule of law" as set out by the constitution.
As my grandfather said: "You might be right, but you don't want to be dead right."
CBP already have extra authorities due to border control because crossing the border is not a constitutional right.
The most egregious expansion was the declaration that all territory within 100 miles of the border is 'authorized' for all CBP's nonsense. That happens to cover about 90% of the US population.
There is a lot of anguish about the intelligence agencies doing their jobs against very serious threats, including Nuclear, Biological, Chemical. Meanwhile the real damage to civil liberties is from the CBP and INS, who literally storm homes every day, and engage in this kind of 4th amendment trashing.
I'm having trouble understanding how 100 miles from the border covers 90% of the US population?
Edit: I see - I was thinking only in terms of e.g. the Arizona southern border, however looking up the Constitution Free Zone shows that it means the entire US - California, all states connected to Cananda etc.
Eidt 2: Would this mean ALL of Hawaii is in this Constitution Free Zone?
I'm curious how much and how long it takes for this to drive migrants inland away from the border... and then how long it will take for them to make an excuse to make it 200mi...
" ... because crossing the border is not a constitutional right."
Yes, it is.
"In Nguyen v. INS (2001), on a separate matter of citizenship, the Supreme Court put down, in writing, that citizens of the US have the absolute right to enter its borders. It was in recent times more or less presumed to be the case, though historically there have been a wide range of decisions that did deny entry by citizens, mainly by denying the underlying citizenship. This right extends to lawful permanent residents, so long as they maintain their status."[1]
I should have said 'crossing the border without being searched is not a constitutional right'
I can't cite chapter and verse, but I'm pretty sure that you do effectively consent to search in the act of crossing the border -- if you don't want to be searched for controlled or taxed items, you can choose to not cross the border, so...
CBP's warrantless searches are plainly unconstitutional.