Shehadeh v. Mullin
Summary
What this Case is About
On September 17, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection held Jalal Shehadeh, a U.S. citizen and practicing attorney, for roughly four hours at Newark Liberty International Airport as he returned from visiting family in Palestine. Shehadeh told officers his phone held attorney-client privileged communications about active client matters and three times refused consent to a search. CBP seized the phone anyway, without a warrant, a criminal charge or any explanation.
ADC went to federal court in New Jersey to demand the phone’s return, the destruction of any data taken from it and a full accounting of what CBP did with the device. ADC argues that even under the lower standard that applies at the border, a forensic search of a phone requires reasonable suspicion, and CBP had none. The case tests whether the government can seize an attorney’s phone at the border, and with it the privileged communications of clients, without cause.
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