Photojournalist stopped for secondary screening at CBP preclearance in Canada

November 21, 2019
Photojournalist John Rudoff was stopped for secondary screening at U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance in Vancouver, Canada, on Dec. 28, 2017, while en route from Bangladesh.Rudoff told the Committee to Protect Journalists that ever since he took multiple trips to Greece following the refugee crisis and traveled to Cuba, he has been stopped for secondary screening when reentering the U.S. He said the screenings happen whether he is traveling alone or with family.Rudoff said he was traveling light in …

Photojournalist stopped second time by CBP in less than a year

November 12, 2019
Freelance photojournalist David Degner was flagged for secondary screening multiple times while flying between Cairo, Egypt, and the United States.Degner, a U.S. citizen who was working out of Cairo, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was pulled aside after disembarking in Boston, Massachusetts, on Oct. 25, 2017. He said he sent out a Facebook notification saying that he was being stopped and interviewed and then signed out of all of his social media profiles.Degner told CPJ that he …

Reporter flagged for additional screening when leaving the U.S., questioned about work

December 10, 2019
A reporter — who asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisal — was flagged for secondary screening in New York City while traveling to Istanbul, Turkey, on Sept. 30, 2017.The reporter, who is a U.S. citizen, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was taken aside by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer while departing from JFK International Airport.After asking the routine questions about addresses and contact information, the reporter said the CBP officer …

Journalist, graduate student stopped again for secondary screening

November 8, 2019
Zainab Merchant, a graduate student at Harvard University and founder of online publication Zainab Rights, was stopped for secondary screening by Customs and Border Protection officers in Orlando, Florida, on Sept. 16, 2017.The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security on Merchant’s behalf. According to the organizations, Merchant was returning from a personal trip to Morocco with her husband when they were both redirected to secondary screening.As was the …

Customs officers search reporter’s car and phone at Canadian border

October 22, 2018
Anne Elizabeth Moore — a cultural critic and reporter who has written for Salon, Teen Vogue, Jacobin, and The New Inquiry — was driving across the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit, Michigan, on Aug. 3, 2017, when she was stopped and questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.Moore told the Committee to Protect Journalists that she had crossed the border earlier that day to cover a cultural event in Toronto. During this first crossing, Moore recalled, the officer had asked …

Journalist stopped for secondary screening, cell phone searched

November 13, 2019
Isma’il Kushkush — a former acting bureau chief of the New York Times in East Africa and International Center for Journalists fellow — was stopped at the U.S.-Canadian border in Vermont on July 30, 2017, while driving back from Montreal.Kushkush, a Sudanese-American dual citizen, is one of 11 plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU of Massachusetts. According to the legal complaint, U.S.…
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