Definition[]
When a border search becomes more intrusive than a routine border search it is referred to as a non-routine border search.
Overview[]
For non-routine border searches, courts have reevaluated the individual and state interests involved and have generally required the government to possess at least reasonable suspicion to conduct such searches.[1] That is because the Fourth Amendment balancing test survives at the border, and "the reasonableness of a particular stop must be gauged by comparing the degree of the intrusion with the grounds for the suspicion that intrusion is called for."[2] For both inbound and outbound traffic, customs agents may conduct non-routine searches at the border or its functional equivalent, but only if they reasonably suspect the traveler is smuggling contraband and the search is limited in scope.[3]