Border Stop

Since tracking began in 2017, 7 journalists have been stopped for secondary screening while covering the migrant caravan.

Total cases	21

Photojournalist questioned at U.S.-Mexico border for second time

February 21, 2019

Freelance photojournalist Ariana Drehsler was stopped for a secondary screening and questioned while entering the United States from Mexico on …

Photojournalist stopped and questioned at US-Mexico border

February 15, 2019

Spanish freelance photojournalist Emilio Fraile was questioned in secondary screening by U.S. authorities while traveling from Tijuana, Mexico, to San …

Photojournalist questioned at San Ysidro border

February 21, 2019

While covering the migrant caravan in Mexico, freelance photojournalist Ariana Drehsler has been stopped for secondary screenings each time she …

Two photojournalists stopped at US-Mexico border for secondary screening

February 15, 2019

Bing Guan and Go Nakamura, American photojournalists, were pulled into secondary screening on Dec. 29, 2018, while driving through the …

Filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky has device taken and searched upon arrival in U.S.

January 30, 2019

While flying from the United Kingdom into the United States on Dec. 23, 2018, filmmaker and director Saeed Taji Farouky …

Al Jazeera journalist stopped and questioned at JFK airport

October 22, 2018

Mhamed Krichen, anchor and program host for Al Jazeera and board member for the Committee to Protect Journalists, was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection when flying in to JFK Airport in New York, on May 23, 2018.Krichen — who has previously reported for Reuters, Radio Tunis, MBC, and BBC Arabic — was flying to New York from Doha, Qatar, in order to attend a CPJ board meeting. He landed at the airport at around 8:45 a.m. He said …

Photojournalist detained at US-Canadian border ordered to delete images on camera

October 20, 2017

Terry J. Allen, a senior editor for In These Times magazine, was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection while attempting to cross the US-Canadian border on September 4, 2017.

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 August 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 …

More Incidents

How we track Border Stops

Journalists stopped at the border and subjected to prolonged, invasive questioning or who have their electronic devices searched or are asked to provide passwords. We count border stops even if we are unable to draw a direct connection between the stop and the journalist’s work activities, because the resistance of U.S. authorities to provide information makes it extremely difficult to identify the motive and because invasive questioning or device searches could jeopardize source confidentiality no matter the motive. Not every stop at the border is a press freedom violation, but we believe it is essential to capture patterns related to these stops. This category also includes cases where journalists are prevented from entering the country if it appears that their inability to enter the country is related to their work.