Lawsuit claims border patrol violated constitution by searching Delta plane

A class action lawsuit claims that domestic passengers landing in New York had their identity documents seized, in violation of the fourth amendment

Edward Helmore in New York
Thursday 12 October 2017 20.53 BST

The Department of Homeland Security is facing a class action lawsuit over an incident in which all the passengers on a domestic flight were held and searched by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents before being allowed to get off their plane – potentially in violation of the US constitution.

The action, filed in New York, is part of an ACLU-backed effort to force the department and its subsidiary agencies, CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), to clarify their position on an unusual and potentially unconstitutional inspection procedure it described as “routine” in press reports at the time.

The suit claims that after Delta flight 1583 from San Francisco landed at New York’s JFK on 22 February, passengers had their identity documents seized and searched, a violation of constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure under the fourth amendment.

“The officers did not have any legal justification for seizing and searching these passengers,” said the ACLU’s deputy legal director, Cecillia Wang.

“This is a serious and illegal erosion of our basic civil liberties. Because CBP publicly took the position that this action was pursuant to policy and a ‘routine’ matter, we are compelled to take action to ensure that this doesn’t happen to passengers on future flights.”

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