Judge rules phone search violated rights

A federal judge ruled that the U.S. government violated the constitutional rights of Palestinian American Osama Abu Irshaid when customs agents seized and searched his cell phone at a U.S. international airport in 2024. The ruling was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia by Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff, who found the searches violated the Fourth Amendment. Irshaid is executive director of American Muslims for Palestine. The Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) had sued on his behalf, alleging discriminatory placement on a watch list. The Department of Homeland Security did not comment.