The U.S. government violated the Fourth Amendment with its suspicionless searches of international travelers’ electronic devices, a Boston federal court ruled today.

The ruling came in a lawsuit that was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) who teamed up with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). This was filed “on behalf of 11 travelers whose smartphones and laptops were searched without individualized suspicion at U.S. ports of entry,” ACLU said.

The United States sees 76.62 million international visitors every year according to the 2018 stats by the U.S. Travel Association. Sophia Cope, EFF Senior Staff Attorney noted the ruling allows travelers to enter the country without fear of illegal and unconstitutional searches

“This is a great day for travelers who now can cross the international border without fear that the government will, in the absence of any suspicion, ransack the extraordinarily sensitive information we all carry in our electronic devices.”

The Supreme Court allows routine border searches because the “Government’s interest in preventing the entry of unwanted persons and effects is at its zenith at the international border,” according to a report by The Anticorruption Blog. This is however not the first time that people have filed civil rights complaints or lawsuits for “uncomfortable interviews.” In fact, this has been a regular occurrence for journalists since The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, a nonpartisan research tool started collecting data on the obstruction of journalists’ rights in 2017.

Back in April this year, ACLU even got U.S. border officials to explain — under oath — their policies and practices governing such warrantless searches.

CBP and ICE say they can search a U.S. citizen's devices to probe whether that person's family or friends may be undocumented.

But warrantless and suspicionless searches of our electronic devices at the border violate the Fourth Amendment. https://t.co/M7IFgg7MRu

— ACLU (@ACLU) May 4, 2019

The number of electronic devices searched at the border increased significantly during President Trump’s administration.  Searches rose from about 8,500 in 2015 to over 30,000 in 2018,

As a result of the rule passed by U.S. District Judge Denise Casper today, “Border officers must now demonstrate individualized suspicion of contraband before they can search a traveler’s device,” ACLU said.