# Border Search of Immigration Lawyer’s Phone Was Likely Unconstitutional Retaliation for Lawyer’s Speech

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/border-search-of-immigration-lawyers-phone-was-likely-unconstitutional-retaliation-for-lawyers-speech/
- Published: 2026-11-14T22:55:51+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-14T23:48:20+00:00
- Original publisher: Reason (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://reason.com/volokh/2026/11/14/border-search-of-immigration-lawyers-phone-was-likely-unconstitutional-retaliation-for-lawyers-speech/
- Topics: Politics

## Key points

- Judge says the phone search was likely retaliation for protected speech.
- Government is temporarily barred from accessing the copied data.
- The phone contained confidential information, including client communications.

## Summary

A federal judge found that an immigration lawyer was likely right that the warrantless seizure and copying of his phone at a US airport was retaliation for his public speech. The ruling matters because it applies First Amendment protections to a border search and temporarily prevents the government from accessing the copied data while the case continues.

Andrew Lattarulo, who shares immigration rights advice on Instagram, was stopped at Boston Logan Airport after returning from Aruba in September 2025. Customs and Homeland Security officers took his phone and made a complete copy of its data, including confidential client communications; the government says it would use a taint team to protect privileged material. The judge cited the unusual search method, a lack of evidence that such searches are common in this type of employment investigation, and the timing of the search as support for a possible retaliatory motive.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.