U.S. border agents are searching travellers’ smartphones and other electronic devices at a record rate, new data suggests amid a broader immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.

The latest figures released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show there were 14,899 devices searched between April and June this year. That’s a 21-per cent jump from the previous quarter, and nearly 17 per cent higher than the previous highest quarterly number of 12,766 devices searched between January and March 2022.

“It’s disheartening,” James Hayes, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer, told Global News in an interview upon learning of the uptick.

U.S. officials have broad legal authority to search electronic devices of people entering the country , regardless of citizenship, and CB

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