Alasaad v. Nielsen

• Decision Date: 09 May 2018
• Docket Number: No. 17-cv-11730-DJC,17-cv-11730-DJC
• Parties: GHASSAN ALASAAD, NADIA ALASAAD, SUHAIB ALLABABIDI, SIDD BIKKANNAVAR, JÉRÉMIE DUPIN, AARON GACH, ISMAIL ABDEL-RASOUL a/k/a ISMA'IL KUSHKUSH, DIANE MAYE, ZAINAB MERCHANT, MOHAMMED AKRAM SHIBLY and MATTHEW WRIGHT, Plaintiffs, v. KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in her official capacity; KEVIN McALEENAN, Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, in his official capacity; and THOMAS HOMAN, Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in his official capacity, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts

GHASSAN ALASAAD, NADIA ALASAAD, SUHAIB ALLABABIDI,

SIDD BIKKANNAVAR, JÉRÉMIE DUPIN, AARON GACH, ISMAIL ABDEL-RASOUL

a/k/a ISMA'IL KUSHKUSH, DIANE MAYE, ZAINAB MERCHANT, MOHAMMED

AKRAM SHIBLY and MATTHEW WRIGHT, Plaintiffs, v. KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,in her official capacity; KEVIN McALEENAN, Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customsand Border Protection, in his official capacity; and THOMAS HOMAN, Acting Director

of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in his official capacity, Defendants.

No. 17-cv-11730-DJC

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

May 9, 2018

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CASPER, J.

I. Introduction

Plaintiffs Ghassan Alasaad, Nadia Alasaad, Suhaib Allababidi ("Allababidi"), Sidd Bikkannavar ("Bikkannavar"), Jérémie Dupin ("Dupin"), Aaron Gach ("Gach"), Ismail Abdel-Rasoul a/k/a Isma'il Kushkush ("Kushkush"), Diane Maye ("Maye"), Zainab Merchant ("Merchant"), Mohammed Akram Shibly ("Shibly") and Matthew Wright ("Wright") (collectively, "Plaintiffs") bring this suit against the following persons in their official capacities: Kirstjen Nielsen ("Nielsen"), Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ("DHS"),¹ Kevin McAleenan ("McAleenan"), Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection ("CBP"), and Thomas Homan ("Homan"), Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") (collectively, "Defendants"). D. 7 ¶¶ 14-26. Plaintiffs, ten U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident, allege that Defendants' conduct—searching Plaintiffs' electronic devices at ports of entry to the United States and, in some instances, confiscating the electronic devices being searched, pursuant to CBP and ICE policies—violates the Fourth Amendment (Counts I and III) and First Amendment (Count II) of the U.S. Constitution. D. 7 ¶¶ 1-10, 168-73. They seek declaratory and injunctive relief. D. 7 at 40-42. Defendants have now moved to dismiss. D. 14. For the reasons stated below, the Court DENIES Defendants' motion to dismiss.

II. Standard of Review

To survive a motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), a complaint must include "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007); García-Catalán v. United States, 734 F.3d 100, 103 (1st Cir. 2013). The Court "must assume the truth of all well-plead[ed] facts and give the plaintiff the benefit of all reasonable inferences therefrom." Ruiz v. Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp., 496 F.3d 1, 5 (1st Cir. 2007). Plaintiffs "need not demonstrate that [they are] likely to prevail" at this stage, García-Catalán, 734 F.3d at 102, but they must show that the combined allegations state "a plausible, not a merely conceivable, case for relief." Sepúlveda-Villarini v. Dep't of Educ. of P.R., 628 F.3d 25, 29 (1st Cir. 2010).

III. Factual Background

Unless otherwise noted, the following facts are drawn from Plaintiffs' amended complaint and accepted as true for the purposes of considering the motion to dismiss. Plaintiffs are individuals whose electronic devices have been searched by federal officers at U.S. ports of entry on at least one occasion, and who "regularly travel outside the country with their electronic devices and intend to continue doing so." D. 7 ¶ 2. Defendants are the heads of DHS and two of its units, CBP and ICE. D. 7 ¶ 3.

In the United States, ninety-five percent of adults own a cell phone, seventy-seven percent own a smart phone and over fifty percent own a tablet computer. D. 7 ¶ 27. "Electronic devices are often essential to people's work," as well as "communication . . . navigation, shopping, banking, entertainment, news, and photography, among other functions." D. 7 ¶¶ 36, 27. "Laptops sold in 2017 can store up to two terabytes" of data, tablet computers can hold up to a terabyte and "smartphones can store hundreds of gigabytes of data." D. 7 ¶ 30. This storage capacity "can be the equivalent of hours of video files, thousands of pictures, or millions of pages of text." Id. Electronic devices like these may also be used to access cloud storage—"data located on remote servers"—as well as email and social media applications. D. 7 ¶¶ 30, 32. Data stored on electronic devices includes "personal, expressive, and associational information" like communications, location history, contact lists, internet browsing history, photos, calendars and notes. D. 7 ¶ 31. Additionally, electronic devices store "historical location information, so-called 'deleted' items that actually remain in digital storage," "metadata about digital files" and "time stamps or GPS coordinates created automatically by software on the device." D. 7 ¶ 33.

According to public CBP data, "CBP conducted 14,993 electronic device searches in the first half of fiscal year 2017," putting CBP "on track to conduct approximately 30,000 searchesthis fiscal year, compared to just 8,503 searches in fiscal year 2015." D. 7 ¶ 38.² Searches generally come in two forms: (1) "manual" searches, during which "officers review the contents of the device by interacting with it as an ordinary user would, through its keyboard, mouse, or touchscreen interfaces"; and (2) "forensic" searches, during which officers "use sophisticated tools, such as software programs or specialized equipment, to evaluate information contained on a device," typically starting by making a copy of the device's data. D. 7 ¶¶ 39, 40, 43. Forensic searches "can capture all active files, deleted files, files in allocated and unallocated storage space, metadata . . . password-protected or encrypted data, and log-in credentials and keys for cloud accounts." D. 7 ¶ 43. On occasion, officers confiscate travelers' devices for prolonged periods. D. 7 ¶¶ 50-56.

CBP and ICE have policies that authorize and guide agents' search of travelers' electronic devices at border locations. D. 7 ¶¶ 8, 57-61. Both units' policies permit searches of electronic devices without a showing of probable cause or issuance of a search warrant. D. 7 ¶¶ 9, 57.

A. The Search Policies

The CBP and ICE electronic device search policies detailed below are matters of public record, published by DHS and available to the public and, accordingly, may be considered by the Court for the purposes of this motion. See Alt. Energy, Inc. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co, 267 F.3d 30, 33 (1st Cir. 2001). Moreover, neither party challenges that the Court may take judicialnotice of these policies, but rather, request that the Court does so. See D. 18; D. 19 at 13 n.1. The Court, therefore, takes judicial notice of the following policies: ICE's directive number 7-6.1, issued August 18, 2009, titled "Border Searches of Electronic Devices" ("ICE Policy"); CBP directive number 3340-049, issued August 20, 2009, titled "Border Searches of Electronic Devices Containing Information" ("2009 CBP Policy");³ and CBP's directive number 3340-049A, issued January 4, 2018, superseding the 2009 CBP Policy, titled "Border Search of Electronic Devices" ("2018 CBP Policy"), D. 18-1.

1. The ICE Policy

The ICE Policy establishes procedures "to search, detain, seize, retain, and share information contained in electronic devices possessed by individuals at the border" and "applies to . . . all persons arriving in, departing from, or transitioning through the United States." ICE Pol. ¶ 1.1. It states that "[a]ll electronic devices crossing U.S. borders are subject to border search," defining "electronic devices" as "[a]ny item that may contain information, such as computers, disks, drives, tapes, mobile phones and other communication devices, cameras, music players, and any other electronic or digital devices." ICE Pol. ¶¶ 8.6.1, 5.2.

Under the ICE Policy, agents are authorized to search electronic devices "with or without individualized suspicion." D. 7 ¶ 58(b); ICE Pol. ¶ 6.1. "To the extent practicable, border searches should be conducted in the presence of, or with the knowledge of, the traveler." ICE Pol. ¶ 8.1.2. The traveler's consent, however, is not needed for search. ICE Pol. ¶ 8.1.3.

No individualized suspicion is required for officers to confiscate devices or "copies of information therefrom" for "further review" on- or off-site. ICE Pol. ¶¶ 6.1, 8.1.4; see D. 7 ¶ 61(b). Additionally, "[a]ssistance to complete a border search may be sought from other Federal agencies and non-Federal entities, on a case by case basis, as appropriate," for technical or subject matter assistance. ICE Pol. ¶¶ 6.1, 8.1.4, 8.4. ICE agents "may create and transmit copies of information" when seeking assistance. ICE Pol. ¶ 8.4.4. Such assistance "is to be accomplished within a reasonable period of time." ICE Pol. ¶ 8.4.5.a. In general, once ICE confiscates a device, ICE may retain it for "a reasonable time given the facts and circumstances of the particular search," generally thirty days, and supervisors may extend this period under "circumstances . . . that warrant more time." ICE Pol. ¶ 8.3.1; D. 7 ¶ 61(c).

Regarding written records of searches, "[n]othing in this policy limits the authority of Special Agents to make written notes or reports or to document impressions relating to a border encounter in ICE's paper or electronic recordkeeping systems." ICE Pol. ¶ 6.3. If ICE confiscates a device, agents must "provide the traveler with a copy of the applicable chain of custody form or other appropriate documentation." ICE Pol. ¶ 8.2.4. ICE agents may seize and retain devices or copies of information contained therein if they determine there is probable cause of unlawful activity or, to "the extent authorized by law," information "relevant to immigration, customs, and other law enforcement matters." ICE Pol. ¶¶ 8.5.1.a-b. Copies may be shared with federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies. ICE Pol. ¶ 8.5.1.c.

The ICE Policy states that copies of information "determined to be of no relevance to ICE will be destroyed . . . . within seven business days after...